THE TEACHE U. 

MORAL INFLUENCES 

EMPLOYED IN 

THE INSTRUCTION AND GOVERNMENT 

OF 

THE YOUNG. 

A NEW AND REVISED EDITION. 



BY JACOB ABBOTT. 



NEW YO R K : 

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHER 
FRANKLIN SQUARE. 

1856. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand 
eight hundred and fifty-six, by 

Harper & Brothers, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District 
of New York. 



PREFACE. 



This book is intended to detail, in a familiar and 
practical manner, a system of arrangements for the or- 
ganization and management of a school, based on the 
employment, so far as is practicable, of Moral Influ- 
ences^ as a means of effecting the objects in view. Its 
design is, not to bring forward new theories or new 
plans, but to develop and explain, and to carry out to 
their practical applications such principles as, among all 
skillful and experienced teachers, are generally admit- 
ted and acted upon. Of course it is not designed for 
the skillful and experienced themselves, but it is intend- 
ed to embody what they already know, and to present 
it in a practical form for the use of those who are be- 
ginning the work, and who wish to avail themselves of 
the experience which others have acquired. 

Although moral influences are the chief foundations 
on which the power of the teacher over the minds and 
hearts of his pupils is, according to this treatise, to rest, 
still it must not be imagined that the system here rec- 
ommended is one of persuasion. It is a system of au- 
thority — supreme and unlimited authority — a point es- 
sential in all plans for the supervision of the young ; 



IV PREFACE. 



but it is authority secured and maintained as far as 
possible by moral measures. There will be no dispute 
about the propriety of making the most of this class of 
means. Whatever difference of opinion there may be 
on the question whether physical force is necessary at 
all, every one will agree that, if ever employed, it must 
be only as a last resort, and that no teacher ought to 
make war upon the body, unless it is proved that he can 
not conquer through the medium of the mind. 

In resfard to the anecdotes and narratives which are 
very freely introduced to illustrate principles in this 
work, the writer ouglit to state that, though they are 
all substantially true — that is, all exc^Dt those which 
are expressly introduced as mere suppositions, he has 
not hesitated to alter very freely, for obvious reasons, 
the unimportant circumstances connected with them. 
He has endeavored thus to destroy the personality of 
the narratives without injuring or altering their moral 
effect. 

From the very nature of our employment, and of the 
circumstances under which the preparation for it must 
be made, it is plain that, of the many tliousands who 
are in the United States annually entering the work, a 
very large majority must depend for all their knowledge 
of the art, except what they acquire from their own ob- 
servation and experience, on what they can obtain from 
books. It is desirable that the class of works from 
which such knowledge can be obtained sliould be in- 
creased. Some excellent and highly useful specimens 
have already appeared, and very many more would be 
eagerly read by teachers, if properly prepared. It is 
essential, however, that they should be written by ex- 



I'KEKACE. 



perienced teachers, who have for some years been act- 
ively engaged and specially interested in the work ; 
that they should be written in a very practical and fa- 
miliar style, and that they should exhibit principles 
which are unquestionably true, and generally admitted 
by good teachers, and not the new theories peculiar to 
the writer himself. In a word, utility and practical ef- 
fect sliould be the onlv aim. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTEREST IN TEACHING. 

Source of enjoyment in teaching. — The boy and the steam-engine. — His 
contrivance. — His pleasure, and the source of it. — Firing at the mark. 
— Plan of clearing the galleries in the British House of Commons. — 
Pleasure of experimenting, and exercising intellectual and moral 
power. — The indifferent and inactive teacher. — His subsequent ex- 
periments ; means of awakening interest. — Offenses of pupils. — Dif- 
ferent ways of regarding them. 

Teaching really attended with peculiar trials and difficulties. — 1. Moral 
responsibility for the conduct of pupils. — 2. Multiplicity of the ob- 
jects of attention Page 13 

CHAPTER H. 

GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS. 

Objects to be aimed at in the general arrangements. — Systematizing 
the teacher's work. — Necessity of having only one thing to attend to 
at a time. 

1. Whispering and leaving seats. — An experiment. — Method of regula- 
ting this. — Introduction of the new plan. — Difficulties. — Dialogue 
with pupils. — Study-card. — Construction and use. 

2. Mending pens — Unnecessary trouble from this source. — Degree of 
importance to be attached to good pens. — Plan for providing them. 

3. Answering questions. — Evils. — Each pupil's fair proportion of time. 
— Questions about lessons. — When the teacher should refuse to an- 
swer them. — Rendering assistance. — W^hen to be refused. 

4. Hearing recitations. — Regular arrangement of them. — Punctuality. — 
Plan and schedule. — General exercises. — Subjects to be attended to 
at them. 

General arrangements of government.— =Power to be delegated to pu- 
pils. — Gardiner Lyceum. — Its government. — The trial. — Real repub- 
lican Dfovernment impracticable in schools. — DcK^sa^f^d power. — Ex- 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

periment with the writing-books. — Quarrel about the nail. — Offices 
for pupils. — Cautions. — Danger of insubordination. — New plans to 
be introduced gradually Page 35 

CHAPTER III. 

INSTRUCTION. 

The three important branches. — The objects which are really most im- 
portant. — Advanced scholars. — Examination of school and scholars 
at the outset. — Acting on numbers. — Extent to which it may be car- 
ried. — Recitation and Instruction. 

1. Recitation. — Its object. — Importance of a thorough examination of 
the class. — Various modes. — Perfect regularity and order necessary. 
— Example. — Story of the pencils. — Time wasted by too minute an at- 
tention to individuals. — Example. — Answers given simultaneously to 
save time. — Excuses. — Dangers in simultaneous recitation. — Means 
of avoiding them. — Advantages of this mode. — Examples. — Written 
answers. 

2. Instruction. — Means of exciting interest. — Variety. — Examples. — 
Showing the connection between the studies of school and the busi- 
ness of life. — Example from the controversy between general and 
state governments. — Mode of illustrating it. — Proper way of meeting 
difficulties. — Leading pupils to surmount them. — True way to en- 
courage the young to meet difficulties. — The boy and the wheel-bar- 
row. — Difficult examples in arithmetic. 

Proper way of rendering assistance. — (1.) Simply analyzing intricate 
subjects. — Dialogue on longitude. — (2.) Making previous truths per- 
fectly familiar. — Experiment with the multiplication table. — Latin 
Grammar lesson. — Geometry. 

3. General cautions. — Doing work for the scholar. — Dullness. — Interest 
in all the pupils. — Making all alike. — Faults of pupils. — The teach- 
er's own mental habits. — False pretensions 75 

CHAPTER IV. 

MORAL DISCIPLINE. 

First impressions. — Story. — Danger of devoting too much attention to 
individual instances. — The profane boy. — Case described. — Confes- 
sion of the boys. — Success. — The untidy desk. — Measures in conse- 
quence. — Interesting the scholars in the good order of the school. — 
Securing a majority. — Example. — Reports about the desks. — The 
new College building. — Modes of interesting the boys. — The irregular 
class. — Two ways of remedying the evil— Boys' love of system and 



CONTENTS. ix 

regularity. — Object of securing a majority, and particular means of 
doing it. — Making school pleasant. — Discipline should generally be 
private. — In all cases that are brought before the school, public opin- 
ion in the teacher's favor should be secured. — Story of the rescue. — 
Feelings of displeasure against what is wrong. — The teacher under 
moral obligation, and governed, himself, by law. — Description of the 
Moral Exercise. — Prejudice. — The scholars' written remarks, and the 
teacher's comments. — The spider. — List of subjects. — Anonymous 
writing. — Specimens. — Marks of a bad scholar. — Consequences of 
being behindhand. — New scholars. — A satirical spirit. — Variety. 
Treatment of individual offenders. — Ascertaining who they are. — Stud- 
ying their characters. — Securing their personal attachment. — Asking 
assistance. — The whistle. — Open, frank deaUng. — Example. — Dia- 
logue with James. — Communications in writing Page 119 

CHAPTER V. 

RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE. 

The American mechanic at Paris. — A Congregational teacher among 
Quakers. — Parents have the ultimate right to decide how their chil- 
dren shall be educated. 

Agreement in religious opinion in this country. — Principle which is to 
guide the teacher on this subject. — Limits and restrictions to religious 
influence in school. — Religious truths which are generally admitted 
in this country. — The existence of God. — Human responsibility. — 
Immortality of the soul. — A revelation. — Nature of piety. — Salvation 
by Christ. — Teacher to do nothing on this subject but what he may 
do by the common consent of his employers. — Reasons for explain- 
ing distinctly these limits. 

Particular measures proposed. — Opening exercises. — Prayer. — Singing. 
— Direct instruction. — Mode of giving it. — Example ; arrangement of 
the Epistles in the New Testament.— Dialogue. — Another example ; 
scene in the woods. — Cautions — Affected simplicity of language. — 
Evils of it. — Minute details. — Example ; motives to study. — Dialogue. 
— Mingling religious influence with the direct discipline of the school. 
— Fallacious indications of piety. — Sincerity of the teacher 173 

CHAPTER VI. 

MOUNT VERNON SCHOOL. 

Reason for inserting the description. — Advantage of visiting schools, 

and of reading descriptions of them. — Addressed to a new scholar. 
1. Her personal duty. — Study-card. — Rule. — But one rule. — Cases when 



X - CONTENTS. 

this rule may be waived. — 1. At tlie direction of teachers. — 2. On ex- 
traordinary emergencies. — Reasons for the rule. — Anecdote. — Pun- 
ishments. — Incidents described. — Confession. 

2. Order of daily exercises. — Opening of the school. — Schedules. — Hours 
of study and recess. — General exercises. — Business. — Examples. — 
Sections. 

3. Instruction and supervision of pupils. — Classes. — Organization. — 
Sections. — Duties of superintendents. 

4. Officers. — Design in appointing them. — Their names and duties. — 
Example of the operation of the system. 

5. The court. — Its plan and design. — A trial described. 

6. Religious instruction. — Principles inculcated. — Measures. — Religious 
exercises in school. — Meeting on Saturday afternoon. — Concluding 
remarks Page 205 

CHAPTER VII. 

SCHEMING. 

Time lost upon fruitless schemes. — Proper province of ingenuity and 
enterprise. — Cautions. — Case supposed. — The spelling class ; an ex- 
periment with it ; its success and its consequences. — System of liter- 
ary institutions in this country. — Directions to a young teacher on 
the subject of forming new plans. — New institutions ; new school- 
books. — Ingenuity and enterprise very useful, within proper limits. — 
Ways of making known new plans. — Periodicals. — Family news- 
papers. — Teachers' meetings. 

Rights of committees, trustees, or patrons, in the control of the school. 
— Principle which ought to govern. — Case supposed. — Extent to 
which the teacher is bound by the wishes of his employers 249 

CHAPTER Vin. 

REPORTS OF CASES. 

Plan of the chapter. — Hats and bonnets. — Injury to clothes. — Mistakes 
which are not censurable. — Tardiness ; plan for punishing it. — Helen's 
lesson. — Firmness in measures united with mildness of manner. — In- 
sincere confession : scene in a class. — Court. — Trial of a case. — 
Teacher's personal character. — The way to elevate the character of 
the employment. — Six hours only to be devoted to school. — The 
chestnut burr. — Scene in the wood. — Dialogue in school. — An ex- 
periment. — Series of lessons in writing. — The correspondence. — Two 
kinds of management. — Plan of weekly reports. — The shopping exer- 
dse. — Example. — Artifices in recitations. — Keeping resolutions ; 



CONTENTS. XI 

notes of teacher's lecture. — Topics. — Plan and illustration of the ex- 
ercise. — Introduction of music. — Tabu. — Mental analysis. — Scene in 
a class Page 273 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE teacher's first DAY. 

Embarrassments of young teachers in first entering upon their duties. 
— Preliminary information to be acquired in respect to the school. — 
Visits to the parents. — Making acquaintance with the scholars. — 
Opening the school. — Mode of setting the scholars at work on the 
first day. — No sudden changes to be made. — Misconduct. — Mode of 
disposing of the cases of it. — Conclusion 322 



THE TEACHER. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTEREST IN TEACHESTG. 





Yr^= ' MOST singular contrariety of opinion prc- 
'^ \ vails in the community in regard to the 



pleasantness of the business of teaching. 

Some teachers go to their daily task mere- 
ly upon compulsion ; they regard it as intolerable drudgery. 
Others love the work : they hover around the school-room as 
long as they can, and never cease to think, and seldom to 
talk, of their delightful labors. 

Unfortunately, there are too many of the former class, and 
the first object which, in this w^ork, I shall attempt to ac- 
complish, is to show my readers, especially those who have 
been accustomed to look upon the business of teaching as a 
weary and heartless toil, how it happens that it is, in any 
case, so pleasant. The human mind is always essentially the 
same. That which is tedious and joyless to one, will be so 
to another, if pursued in the same way, and under the same 



14 



THE TEACHER. 



circumstances. And teaching, if it is pleasant, animating, 
and exciting to one, may be so to all. 

I am met, however, at the outset, in my eiFort to show why 
it is that teaching is ever a pleasant work, by the want of a 
name for a certain faculty or capacity of the human mind, 
through which most of the enjoyment of teaching finds its 
avenue. Every mind is so constituted as to take a positive 
pleasure in tlie exercise of ingenuity in adapting means to an 
end, and in watching the operation of them — in accomplish- 
ing by the intervention of instruments what we could not ac- 
complish without — in devising (when we see an object to be 
effected which is too great for our direct and immediate power) 
and setting at work some instrumentalitjj which may be suffi- 
cient to accomplish it. 

It is said that w^hen the steam-engine was first put into 




INTEREST IN TEACHING. 15 

operation, such was the imperfection of the machinery, that 
a boy was necessarily stationed at it to open and shut alter- 
nately the cock by which the steam was now admitted and 
now shut out from the cylinder. One such boy, after pa- 
tiently doing his work for many days, contrived to connect 
this stop-cock with some of the moving parts of the engine 
by a wire, in such a manner that the engine itself did the 
work which had been intrusted to him ; and after seeing that 
the whole business would go regularly forward, he left the 
wire in charge, and went away to play. 

Such is the story. Now if it is true, how much pleasure 
the boy must have experienced in devising and mtnessing 
the successful operation of his scheme. I do not mean the 
pleasure of relieving himself from a dull and wearisome duty ; 
I do not mean the pleasure of anticipated play ; but I mean 
the strong interest he must have taken in contriving and exe- 
cuting hisjylan. When, weai'ied out with his dull, monotonous 
work, he first noticed those movements of the machinery 
which he thought adapted to his purpose, and the plan flash- 
ed into his mind, how must his eye have brightened, and how 
quick must the weaiy listlessness of his employment have 
vanished. While he was maturing his plan and carrying it 
into execution — while adjusting his wires, fitting them to the 
exact length and to the exact position — and especially when, 
at last, he began to Avatch the first successful operation of his 
contrivance, he must have enjoyed a pleasure which very 
few even of the joyous sports of childhood could have sup- 
plied. 

It is not, however, exactly the pleasure of exercising iiige- 
nuity in contrivance that I refer to here ; for the teacher has 
not, after all, a great deal of absolute contriving to do, or, 
rather, his principal business is not contriving. The greatest 
and most permanent source of pleasure to the boy, in such a 
case as I have described, is his feeling that he is accomplish- 
ing a great effect by a slight effort of his own ; the feeling of 



16 THE TEACHEli. 

power; acting through the intervention of instrumentality, so as 
to muhiply his power. So great would be this satisfaction, 
that he woukl almost wish to have some other similar work 
assigned him, that he might have another opportunity to con- 
trive some plan for its easy accomplishment. 

Looking at an object to be accomplished, or an evil to be 
remedied, then studying its nature and extent, and devising 
and executing some means for effecting the purpose desired, 
is, in all cases, a source of pleasure ; especially when, by the 
process, we bring to view or into operation new powers, or 
powers heretofore hidden, whether they are our o\n\ powers, 
or those of objects upon which we act. Experimenting has 
a sort of magical fascination for all. Some do not like the 
trouble of making preparations, but all are eager to see the 
results. Contrive a new machine, and every body will be in- 
terested to witness or to hear of its operation. Develop any 
heretofore unknown properties of matter, or secure some new 
useful effect from laws which men have not hitherto employ- 
ed for their purposes, and the interest of all around you will 
be excited to observe your results ; and, especially, you will 
yourself take a deep and permanent pleasure in guiding and 
controlling the powder you have thus obtained. 

This is peculiarly the case with experiments upon mind, or 
experiments for producing effects through the medium of vol- 
untary acts of others, making it necessary that the contriver 
should take into consideration the laws of mind in forming 
his plans. To illustrate this by rather a childish case : I once 
knew a boy who was employed by his father to remove all 
the loose small stones, which, from the peculiar nature of the 
ground, had accumulated in the road before the house. The 
boy was set at work by his father to take them up, and throw 
them over into the pasture across the way. He soon got tired 
of picking up the stones one by one, and so he sat do\^^l upon 
the bank to try to devise some better means of accomplishing 
Ins work. He at length conceived and adopted the follow- 



INTEREST IN TEACHING. 17 

ing plan : He set up in the pasture a narrow board for a tar- 
get, or, as bojs would call it, a mark, and then, collecting all 
the boys of the neighborhood, he proposed to them an amuse- 
ment which boys are always ready for — firing at a mark. 
The stones in the road furnished the ammunition, and, of 
course, in a very short time the road was cleared ; the boys 
working for the accomplishment of their leader's task, when 
they supposed they were only finding amusement for them- 
selves. 

Here, now, is experimenting upon the mind — the produc- 
tion of useful effect with rapidity and ease by the interven- 
tion of proper instrumentality — the conversion, by means of 
a little knowledge of human nature, of that which would have 
otherwise been dull and fatiguing labor into a most animat- 
ing sport, giving pleasure to twenty instead of tedious labor 
to one. Now the contrivance and execution of such plans is 
a source of positive pleasure. It is always pleasant to bring 
even the properties and powers of matter into requisition to 
promote our designs ; but there is a far higher pleasure in 
controlling, and guiding, and moulding to our purpose the 
movements of mind. 

It is this which gives interest to the jDlans and operation 
of human governments. Governments can, in fact, do little 
by actual force. Nearly all the power that is held, even by 
the most despotic executive, must be based on an adroit man- 
agement of the principles of human nature, so as to lead men 
voluntarily to co-operate with the leader in his plans. Even 
an army could not be got into battle, in many cases, without 
a most ingenious arrangement, by means of which half a dozen 
men can drive, literally drive, as many thousands into the 
very face of danger and death. The difficulty of leading men 
to battle must have been, for a long time, a very perplexing 
one to generals. It was at last removed by the very simple 
expedient of creating a greater danger behind than there is 
before. Without ingenuity of contrivance like this, turning 



18 THE TEACHEK. 

one principle of human nature against another, and making 
it for the momentary interest of men to act in a given way, 
no government coulJ stand. 

I know of nothing which illustrates more perfectly the way 
by which a knowledge of human nature is to be turned to ac- 
count in managing human minds than a plan which was 
adopted for clearing the galleries of the British House of Com- 
mons many years ago, before the present Houses of Parlia- 
ment were built. There was then, as now, a gallery appro- 
priated to spectators, and it was customary to require these 
visitors to retire when a vote was to be taken or private bus- 
iness was to be transacted. When the officer in attendance 
was ordered to clear the gallery, it was sometimes found to 
be a very troublesome and slow operation ; for those who 
fir^t went out remained- obstinately as close to the doors as 
possible, so as to secm^e the opportunity to come in again 
first when the doors should be re-opened. The consequence 
was, there was so great an accumulation around the doors 
outside, that it was almost impossible for the crowd to get 
out. The whole difficulty arose from the eager desire of ev- 
ery one to remain as near as possible to the door, through 
which they ivere to come hack again. Notwithstanding the ut- 
most effiDrts of the officers, fifteen minutes were sometimes 
consumed in effecting the object, when the order was given 
that the spectators should retire. 

The whole difficulty was removed by a very simple plan. 
One door only was opened when the crowd was to retire, and 
they were then admitted, when the gallery was opened again, 
through the other. The consequence was, that as soon as the 
order was given to clear the galleries, every one fled as fast 
as possible through the open door around to the one which 
was closed, so as to be ready to enter first, when that, in its 
turn, should be opened. This was usually in a few minutes, 
as the purpose for which the spectators were ordered to re- 
tire was in most caees simply to allow time for taking a vote. 



INTEREST IN TEACHING. 19 

Here it ^vill be seen that, by the operation of a very simple 
plan, the very eagerness of the crowd to get back as soon as 
possible, which had been the sole cause of the difficulty, was 
turned to account most effectually to the removal of it. Be- 
fore, the first that went out were so eager to return, that they 
crowded around the door of egress in such a manner as to 
prevent others going out ; but by this simple plan of ejecting 
them by one door and admitting them by another, that very 
eagerness made them clear the passage at once, and caused 
every one to hurry away into the lobby the moment the com- 
mand was given. 

The planner of this scheme must have taken great pleas- 
ure in witnessing its successful operation ; though the officer 
who should go steadily on, endeavoring to remove the reluct- 
ant throng by dint of mere driving, might well have found 
his task unpleasant. But the exercise of ingenuity in study- 
ing the nature of the difficulty with which a man has to con- 
tend, and bringing in some antagonist principle of human na- 
ture to remove it, or, if not an antagonist principle, a similar 
principle, operating, by a peculiar arrangement of circum- 
stances, in an antagonist manner, is always pleasant. From 
this source a large share of the enjoyment which men find in 
the active pursuits of life has its origin. 

The teacher has the whole field which this subject opens 
fully before him. He has human nature to deal with most 
directly. His whole work is one of experimenting upon 
mind ; and the mind which is before him to be the subject of 
his operation is exactly in the state to be most easily and 
pleasantly operated upon. The reason now why some teach- 
ers find their work delightful, and some find it wearisome- 
ness and tedium itself, is that some do and some do not take 
this view of the nature of it. One instructor is like the en- 
gine-boy, turning, ^^dthout cessation or change, his everlast- 
ing stop-cock, in the same ceaseless, mechanical, and monot- 
onous routine. Another is like the little workman in his 



20 THE TEACHER. 

brighter moments, arranging his invention, and watching 
with delight the successful and easy accomplishment of his 
wishes by means of it. One is like the officer, driving by vo- 
ciferations, and threats, and demonstrations of violence, the 
spectators from the galleries. The other like the shrewd con- 
triver, who converts the very desire to return, which was the 
sole cause of the difficulty, to a most successful and efficient 
means of its removal. 

These principles show how teaching may, in some cases, 
be a delightful employment, while in others its tasteless dull- 
ness is interrupted by nothing but its perplexities and cares. 
The school-room is in reality a little empire of mind. If the 
one who presides in it sees it in its true light ; studies the na- 
ture and tendency of the minds which he has to control ; 
adapts his plans and his measures to the laws of human na- 
ture, and endeavors to accomplish his purposes for them, not 
by mere labor and force, but by ingenuity and enterprise, he 
will take pleasure in administering his little government. He 
will watch, with care and interest, the operation of the moral 
and intellectual causes which he sets in operation, and find, 
as he accomplishes his various objects with increasing facility 
and power, that he will derive a greater and greater pleasure 
from his work. 

Now when a teacher thus looks upon his school as a field 
in which he is to exercise skill, and ingenuity, and enterprise ; 
when he studies the laws of human nature, and the charac- 
ter of those minds upon which he has to act ; Mdien he ex- 
plores deliberately the nature of the field which he has to cul- 
tivate, and of the objects which he wishes to accomplish, and 
applies means judiciously and skillfully adapted to the ob- 
ject, he must necessarily take a strong interest in his work. 
But when, on the other hand, he goes to his employment 
only to perform a certain regular round of daily toil, under- 
taking nothing and anticipating nothing but this dull and un- 
changeable routine, and when he looks upon his pupils mere- 



INTEREST IN TEACHING. 



21 




ly as passive objects of his labors, whom he is to treat with 
simple indifference while they obey his commands, and to 
whom he is only to apply reproaches and pmiishment when 
they do wrong, such a teacher never can take pleasure in the 
school. Weariness and dullness must reign in both master 
and scholars when things, as he imagines, are going right, 
and mutual anger and crimination when they go wrong. 



22 THE TEACHER. 

Scholars never can be successfully instructed by the power 
of any dull mechanical routine, nor can they be properly gov- 
erned by the blind, naked strength of the master ; such means 
must fail of the accomplishment of the purposes designed, and 
consequently the teacher who tries such a course must have 
constantly upon his mind the discouraging, disheartening bur- 
den of unsuccessful and almost useless labor. He is contin- 
ually uneasy, dissatisfied, and filled with aitxious cares, and 
sources of vexation and perplexity continually arise. He at- 
tempts to remove evils by waging against them a useless and 
most vexatious warfare of threatening and punishment ; and 
he is trying continually to drive^^ when he might know that 
neither the intellect nor the heart are capable of being driven. 

I will simply state one case, to illustrate what I mean by 
the difference between blind force and active ingenuity and 
enterprise in the management of school. I once knew the 
teacher of a school who made it his custom to have Avriting 
attended to in the afternoon. The school was in the coun- 
try, and it was the old times when quills, instead of steel pens, 
were universally used. The boys were accustomed to take 
their places at the appointed hour, and each one would set 
up his pen in the front of his desk for the teacher to come 
and mend them. The teacher would accordingly pass around 
the school-room, mending- the pens, from desk to desk, thus 
enabling the boys, in succession, to begin their task. Of 
course, each boy, before the teacher came to his desk, was nec- 
essarily idle, and, almost necessarily, in mischief Day after 
day the teacher Avent through this regular routine. He saun- 
tered slowly and listlessly through the aisles, and among the 
benches of the room, wherever he saw the signal of a pen. 
Pie paid, of course, very little attention to the writing, now 
and then reproving, with an impatient tone, some extraor- 
dinary instance of carelessness, or leaving his work to sup- 
press some rising disorder. Ordinarily, however, he seemed 
to be lost in vacancy of thought, dreaming, perhaps, of other 



INTEREST IN' TEACHING. 23 

scenes, or inwardly repining at the eternal monotony and te- 
dium of a teacher's life. His boys took no interest in their 
work, and of course made no progress. They were some- 
times unnecessarily idle, and sometimes mischievous, but nev- 
er usefully or pleasantly employed, for the whole hour was 
passed before the pens could all be brought down. Wasted 
time, blotted books, and fretted tempers were all the results 
which the system produced. 

The same teacher afterward acted on a very different prin- 
ciple. He looked over the field, and said to himself, ''What 
are the objects which I wish to accomplish in this writing ex- 
ercise, and how can I best accomplish them ? I wish to ob- 
tain the greatest possible amount of industrious and careful 
practice in writing. The first thing evidently is to save the 
wasted time." He accordingly made preparation for mend- 
ing the pens at a previous hour, so that all should be ready, 
at the appointed time, to commence the work together. This 
could be done quite as conveniently when the boys were en- 
gaged in studying, by requesting them to put out their pens 
at an appointed smd pi-evious time. He sat at his table, and 
the pens of a whole bench were brought to him, and, after 
being carefully mended, were returned, to be in readiness for 
the writing hour. Thus the first difficulty, the loss of time, 
was obviated. 

" I must make them {ndustrioKS while they write," was his 
next thought. After thmking of a variety of methods, he 
determined to try the following : he required all to begin to- 
gether at the top of the page, and vrrite the same line, in a 
hand of the same size. They were all required to begin to- 
gether, he himself beginning at the same time, and writing 
about as fast as he thought they ought to write in order to 
secure the highest improvement. When he had finished his 
line, he ascertained how many had preceded him and how 
many were behind. He requested the first to write slower, 
and the others faster ; and by this means, after a few trials, 



24 THE TEACHER. 

he secured uniform, regular, systematic, and industrious em- 
ployment throughout the school. Probably there were, at 
first, difficulties in the operation of the plan, which he had to 
devise ways and means to surmount ; but what I mean to 
present particularly to the reader is, that he was interested in 
his experiments. While sitting in his desk, giving his com- 
mand to begin line after line, and noticing the unbroken si- 
lence, and attention, and interest which prevailed (for each 
boy was interested to see how nearly with the master he 
could finish his work), while presiding over such a scene he 
must have been interested. He must have been pleased with 
the exercise of his almost military command, and to witness 
how effectually order and industry, and excited and pleased 
attention, had taken the place of listless idleness and mutual 
dissatisfaction. 

After a few days, he appointed one of the older and more 
judicious scholars to give the word for beginning and ending 
the lines, and he sat surveying the scene, or walking from 
desk to desk, noticing faults, and considering what plans he 
could form for securing more and more fully the end he had 
in view. He found that the great object of interest and at- 
tention among the boys was to come out right, and that less 
pains were taken Avith the formation of the letters than there 
ought to be to secure the most rapid improvement. 

But how shall he secure greater pains'? By stern com- 
mands and threats? By going from desk to desk, scolding 
one, rapping the knuckles of another, and holding up to rid- 
icule a third, making examples of such individuals as may 
chance to attract his special attention '? No ; he has learned 
that he is operating upon a little empire of mind, and that 
he is not to endeavor to drive them as a man drives a herd, 
by mere peremptory command or half angry blows. He must 
study the nature of the effect that he is to produce, and of 
the materials upon which he is to work, and adopt, after ma- 
ture deliberation, a plan to accomplish his purpose founded 



INTEREST IN TEACHING. 25 

upon the principles which ought always to regulate the ac- 
tion of mind upon mind, and adapted to produce the intellect- 
ual effect which he wishes to accomplish. 

In the case supposed, the teacher concluded to appeal to 
emulation. While I describe the measure he adopted, let it 
be remembered that I am now only approving of the resort 
to ingenuity and invention, and the employment of moral and 
intellectual means for the accomplishment of his purposes, 
and not of the measures themselves. I am not sure the plan 
I am going to describe is a wise one ; but I am sure that the 
teacher, while trying it, must have heen interested in his intel- 
lectual experiment. His business, while pursued in such a 
way, could not have been a mere dull and uninteresting 
routine. 

He purchased, for three cents apiece, two long lead pen- 
cils — an article of gi'eat value in the opinion of tlie boys of 
country schools — and he offered them, as prizes, to the boy 
who would wi'ite most carefully ; not to the one w^ho should 
write hest, but to the one whose book should exhibit most ap- 
pearance of effort and care for a week. After announcing 
his plan, he watched with strong interest its operation. He 
walked round the room while the TNTiting was in progi'ess, to 
observe the effect of his measure. He did not reprove those 
who were writing carelessly; he simply noticed who and 
how many they were. He did not commend those who were 
evidently making effort ; he noticed who and how many they 
were, that he might understand how far, and upon what sort 
of minds, his experiment was successful, and where it failed. 
He was taking a lesson in human nature — human nature as 
it exhibits itself in boys — and was preparing to operate more 
and more powerfully by future plans. 

The lesson which he learned by the experiment was this, 
that one or two prizes will not influence the majority of a 
large school. A few of the boys seemed to think that the 
r>?-~ -'1?: were pos'^i'h"';^'" within their reach, a.nd they made vig- 

5 



26 THE TEACHER. 

orous efforts to secure them ; but the rest wrote on as before. 
Thinking it certain that they should be surpassed by the oth- 
ers, they gave up the contest at once in despair. 

The obvious remedy was to multiply his prizes, so as to 
bring one of them within the reach of all. He reflected, too, 
that the real prize, in such a case, is not the value of the 
pencil, but the honor of the victoi^ ; and as the honor of the 
victory might as well be coupled with an object of less, as 
well as with one of greater value, the next week he divided 
his two pencils into quarters, and offered to his pupils eight 
prizes instead of two. He offered one to every five scholars, 
as they sat on their benches, and every boy then saw that a 
reward would certainly come within five of him. His chance, 
accordingly, instead of being one in twenty, became one in five. 

Now is it possible for a teacher, after having philosophized 
upon the nature of the minds upon which he is operating, 
and surveyed the field, and ingeniously formed a plan, which 
plan he hopes will, through his own intrinsic power, produce 
certain effects — is it possible for him, when he comes, for the 
first day, to wdtness its operations, to come without feeling a 
strong interest in the result ? It is not possible. After hav- 
ing formed such a plan, and made such arrangements, he will 
look forward almost with impatience to the next writing- 
hour. He wishes to see whether he has estimated the men- 
tal capacities and tendencies of his little community aright ; 
and when the time comes, and he surveys the scene, and ob- 
serves the operation of his measure, and sees many more are 
reached by it than were influenced before, he feels a strong 
gratification, and it is a gratification which is founded upon 
the noblest principles of our nature. He is tracing, on a 
most interesting field, the operation of cause and effect. From 
being the mere drudge, who drives, without intelligence or 
thought, a score or two of boys to their daily tasks, he rises 
to the rank of an intellectual philosopher, exploring the laws 
and successfully controlling the tendencies of mind. 



INTEREST IN TEACHING. 27 

It will be observed, too, that all the time this teacher was 
performing these experiments, and watching with intense in- 
terest the results, his pupils were going on undisturbed in 
their pursuits. The exercises in ^\Titing were not interrupt- 
ed or deranged. This is a jDoint of fundamental importance ; 
for, if what I should say on the subject of exercising ingenu- 
ity and contrivance in teaching should be the means, in any 
case, of leading a teacher to break in upon the regular duties 
of his school, and destroy the steady uniformity with which 
the great objects of such an institution should be pursued, my 
remarks had better never have been written. There may be 
variety in methods and plan, but, through all this variety, 
the school, and every individual pupil of it, must go steadily 
forward in the acquisition of that knowledge which is of 
greatest importance in the business of future life. In other 
words, the variations and changes admitted by the teacher 
ought to be mainly confined to the modes of accomplishing 
those permanent objects to which all the exercises and ar- 
rangements of the school ought steadily to aim. More on 
this subject, however, in another chapter. 

I will mention one other circumstance, which will help to 
explain the difference in interest and pleasure with which 
teachers engage in their work. I mean the different \"iews 
they take of the offenses of their pupils. One class of teachers 
seem never to make it a part of their calculation that their 
pupils will do wrong, and when any misconduct occurs they 
are discontented and irritated, and look and act as if some 
unexpected occurrence had broken in upon their plans. Oth- 
ers understand and consider all this beforehand. They seem 
to think a little, before they go into their school, what sort 
of beings boys and girls are, and any ordinary case of youth- 
ful delinquency or dullness does not surprise them. I do not 
mean that they treat such cases with indifference or neglect, 
but that they expect them, and are prepared for them. Such a 
teacher knows that boys and girls are the materials he has to 



28 



THE TEACHER. 



work upon, and he takes care to make himself acquainted 
with these materials, just as they are. The other class, how- 
ever, do not seem to know at all what sort of beings they 
have to deal with, or, if they know, do not consider. They 
expect from them what is not to be obtained, and then are 
disappointed and vexed at the failure. It is as if a carpenter 
should attempt to support an entablature by pillars of wood 
too small and weak for the weight, and then go on, from week 
to week, suffering anxiety and irritation as he sees them 
swelling and splitting under the burden, and finding fault 
ivith the ivoocl instead of taking it to himself; or as if a plow- 
man were to attempt to work a hard and stony piece of 




ground with a poor team and a small plow, and then, when 
overcome by the difficulties of the task, should vent his vex- 
ation and anger in laying the blame on the ground instead 
of on the inadequate and insufficient instrumentality which 
he had provided for subduing it. 

It is, of course, one essential part of a man's duty, in en- 
gaging in any undertaking, whether it will lead him to act 
upon matter or upon mind, to become first well acquainted 
with the circumstances of the case, the materials he is to act 
upon, and the means which he may reasonably expect to 
have at his command. If he underrates his difficulties, or 
overrates the power of his means of overcoming them, it is 



INTEREST IN TEACHING. 29 

his mistake — a mistake for which lie is fully responsible. 
Whatever may be the nature of the effect which he aims at 
accomplishing, he ought fully to understand it, and to ap- 
preciate justly the ditficulties which lie in the way. 

Teachers, however, very often overlook this. A man comes 
home from his school at night perplexed and irritated by the 
petty misconduct which he has witnessed, and been trying 
to check. He does not, however, look forward and endeavor 
to prevent the occasions of such misconduct, adapting his 
measures to the nature of the material upon which he has 
to operate, but he stands, like the carpenter at his columns, 
making himself miserable in looking at it after it occurs, and 
wondering what to do. 

''Sir," we might say to him, "what is the matter?" 

"Why, I have such boys I can do nothing with them. 
Were it not for their misconduct, I might have a very good 
school." 

"Were it not for their misconduct? W^hy, is there any 
peculiar depravity in them Avhich you could not have fore- 
seen ?" 

" No ; I suppose they are pretty much like all other boys," 
he replies, despairingly ; " they are all hair-brained and un- 
manageable. The plans I have formed for my school would 
be excellent if my boys would only behave properly." 

"Excellent plans," might we not reply, "and yet not 
adapted to the materials upon which they are to operate! 
No. It is your business to know what sort of beings boys 
are, and to make your calculations accordingly." 

Two teachers may therefore manage their schools in totally 
different ways, so that one of them may necessarily find the 
business a dull, mechanical routine, except as it is occasion- 
ally varied by perplexity and irritation, and the other a pros- 
perous and happy employment. The one goes on mechanic- 
ally the same, and depends for his power on violence, or on 



30 THE TEACHER. 

threats and demonstrations of violence. The other brings all 
his ingenuity and enterprise into the field to accomplish a 
steady purpose by means ever varying, and depends for his 
power on his knowledge of human nature, and on the adroit 
adaptation of plans to her fixed and uniform tendencies. 

I am very sorry, however, to be obliged to say that proba- 
bly the latter class of teachers are decidedly in the minority. 
To practice the art in such a way as to make it an agree- 
able employment is difficult, and it requires much knowl- 
edge of human nature, much attention and skill. And, aft- 
er all, there are some circumstances necessarily attending the 
work which constitute a heavy drawback on the pleasures 
which it might otherwise afford. The almost universal im- 
pression that the business of teaching is attended -udth pecul- 
iar trials and difficulties proves this. 

There must be some cause for an impression so general. 
It is not right to call it a prejudice, for, although a single 
individual may conceive a prejudice, whole communities very 
seldom do, unless in some case which is presented at once to 
the whole, so that, looking at it through a common medium, 
all judge wrong together. But the general opinion in re- 
gard to teaching is composed of a vast number of separate 
and independent judgments, and there must be some good 
ground for the universal result. 

It is best, therefore, if there are any real and peculiar 
sources of trial and difficulty in this pursuit, that they should 
be distinctly known and acknowledged at the outset. Count 
the cost before going to war. It is even better policy to over- 
rate than to underrate it. Let us see, then, what the real dif- 
ficulties of teaching are. 

It is not, however, as is generally supposed, the confinement. 
A teacher is confined, it is true, but not more than men of 
other professions and employments ; not more than a mer- 
chant, and probably not as much. A physician is confined 
in a diflferent way, but more closely than a teacher : he can 



INTEREST IN TEACHING. 31 

never leave home : he knoAvs generally no vacation, and noth- 
ing but accidental rest. 

The laAvyer is confined as much. It is true there are not 
throughout the year exact hours which he must keep, but, 
considering the imperious demands of his business, his per- 
sonal liberty is probably restrained as much by it as that of 
the teacher. So with all the other professions. Although 
the nature of the confinement may vary, it amounts to about 
the same in all. On the other hand, the teacher enjoys, in 
reference to this subject of confinement, an advantage which 
scarcely any other class of men does or can enjoy. I mean 
vacations. A man in any other business may force himself 
away from it for a time, but the cares and anxieties of his 
business will follow him wherever he goes. It seems to be 
reserved for the teacher to enjoy alone the periodical luxury 
of a real and entire release from husiness and care. On the 
whole, as to confinement, it seems to me that the teacher has 
little ground of complaint. 

There are, however, some real and serious difficulties which 
always have, and, it is to be feared, always will, cluster around 
this employment ; and which must, for a long time, at least, 
lead most men to desire some other employment for the bus- 
iness of life. There may perhaps be some who, by their pe- 
culiar skill, can overcome or avoid them, and perhaps the sci- 
ence of teaching may, at some future day, be so far improved 
that all may avoid them. As I describe them, however, now, 
most of the teachers into whose hands this treatise may fall 
will probably find that their own experience corresponds, in 
this respect, with mine. 

1. The first great difficulty which the teacher feels is a 
sort of moral responsibility for the conduct of others. If his pu- 
pils do wrong, he feels almost personal responsibility for it. 
As he walks out some afternoon, wearied with his labors, and 
endeavoring to forget, for a little time, all his cares, he comes 
upon a group of boys in rude and noisy quarrels, or enfrntred 



32 THE TEACHER. 

in mischief of some sort, and his heart sinks within him. It 
is hard enough for any one to witness their bad conduct with 
a spirit unruffled and undisturbed, but for their teacher it is 
perhaps impossible. He feels responsible ; in fact, he is re-! 
sponsible. If his scholars are disorderly, or negligent, or idle, 
or quarrelsome, he feels condemned himself almost as if he were 
himself the actual transgressor. 

This difficulty is, in a great degree, peculiar to a teacher. 
:i physician is called upon to prescribe for a patient ; he ex- 
amines the case, and -svrites his prescription. When this is 
done his duty is ended ; and whether the patient obeys the 
prescription and lives, or neglects it and dies, the physician 
feels exonerated from all responsibility. He may, and in 
some cases does, feel anxious concern, and may regret the in- 
fatuation by which, in some unhappy case, a valuable life 
may be hazarded or destroyed. But he feels no morcd re- 
s2yonsihility for another's guilt. 

It is so with all the other employments in life. They do, 
indeed, often bring men into collision with other men. But, 
though sometimes vexed and irritated by the conduct of a 
neighbor, a client, or a patient, they feel not half the bitter- 
ness of the solicitude and anxiety which come to the teacher 
through the criminality of his pupil. In ordinary cases he 
not only feels responsible for efforts, but for their results; 
and when, notwithstanding all his efforts, his pupils will do 
wrong, his spirit sinks with an intensity of anxious despond- 
ency which none but a teacher can understand. 

This feeling of something very like morcd accountahility for 
the guilt of other persons is a continual burden. The teacher 
in the presence of the pupil never is free from it. It links 
him to them by a bond which perhaps he ought not to sun- 
der, and which he can not sunder if he would. And some- 
times, when those committed to his charge are idle, or faith- 
less, or unprincipled, it wears away his spirits and his health 
toQfPthpr. T think there is nothino- analoo-ous to this moral 



INTEKEST IN TEACHING. 33 

connection between teacher and pupil unless it be in the 
case of a parent and child. And here, on account of the 
comparative smallness of the number under the parent's care, 
the evil is so much diminished that it is easily borne. 

2. The second great difficulty of the teacher's employ- 
ments is the immense multiplicity of the objects of his attention 
and care during the time he is employed in his business. 
His scholars are individuals, and notMithstandingi; all that 
the most systematic can do in the way of classification, they 
must be attended to in a great measure as indi\'iduals. A 
merchant keeps his commodities together, and looks upon a 
cargo composed of ten thousand articles, and worth a hund- 
red thousand dollars, as one ; he speaks of it as one ; and 
there is, in many cases, no more perplexity in planning its 
destination than if it were a single box of raisins. A law- 
yer may have a great many important cases, but he has only 
one at a time ; that is, he attends to but one at a time. 
The one may be intricate, involving many facts, and requir- 
ing to be examined in many aspects and relations. But he 
looks at but few of these facts and regards but few of these 
relations at a time. The points Avhicli demand his attention 
come one after another in regular succession. Plis mind 
may thus be kept calm. He avoids confusion and perplex- 
ity. But no skill or classification will turn the poor teach- 
er's hundred scholars into one, or enable him, except to a 
veiy limited extent, and for a very limited purpose, to re- 
gard them as one. He has a distinct and, in many respects, 
a different work to do for every one of tlie crowd before him. 
Difficulties must be explained in detail, questions must be 
answered one by one, and each scholar's owtq conduct must 
be considered by itself. His work is thus made up of a 
thousand minute particulars, which are all crowding upon 
his attention at once, and which he can not group together, 
or combine, or simplify. He must, by some means or other, 
attend to them in all their distracting individuality. And, 

B 2 



34 THE TEACHER. 

in a large and complicated school, the endless multiplicity 
and variety of objects of attention and care impose a task 
under which few intellects can long stand. 

I have said that this endless multiplicity and variety can 
not be reduced and simplified by classification. I mean, of 
course, that this can be done only to a very limited extent 
compared with what may be effected in the other pursuits 
of mankind. Were it not for the art of classification and 
system, no school could have more than ten scholars, as I in- 
tend hereafter to show. The great reliance of the teacher 
is upon this art, to reduce to some tolerable order what 
would otherwise be the inextricable confusion of his busi- 
ness. He must he systematic. He must classify and arrange ; 
but, after he has done all that he can, he must still expect 
that his daily business will continue to consist of a vast mul- 
titude of minute particulars, from one to another of which 
the mind must turn with a rapidity which few of the other 
employments of life ever demand. 

These are the essential sources of difficulty with which the 
teacher has to contend ; but, as I shall endeavor to show in 
succeeding chapters, though they can not be entirely re- 
moved, they can be so far mitigated by the appropriate 
means as to render the employment a happy one. I have 
thought it best, however, as this work will doubtless be read 
by many who, when they read it, are yet to begin their la- 
bors, to describe frankly and fully to them the difficulties 
which beset the path they are about to enter. " The wis- 
dom of the prudent is to understand his way." It is often 
wisdom to understand it beforehand. 



GENERAL ARRANGEIHENTS. 



35 



CHAPTER 11. 

GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS. 





HE distraction and perplexity of the teacher's life are, as 
was explained in the last chapter, almost proverbial. There 
are other pressing and exhausting pursuits, which wear away 
the spirit by the ceaseless care which they impose, or perplex 
and bewilder the intellect by the multiplicity and intricacy 
of their details ; but the business of teaching, by a pre-emi- 
nence not very enviable, stands, almost by common consent, 
at the head of the catalogue. 

I have already alluded to this subject in the preceding 
chapter, and probably the majority of actual teachers will ad- 
mit the truth of the view there presented. Some will, how- 
ever, doubtless say that they do not find the business of teach- 
ing so perplexing and exhausting an employment. They 
take things calmly. They do one thing at a time, and that 
■\Wthout useless solicitude and anxiety. So that teaching, 
^^^th them, though it has, indeed, its solicitudes and cares, as 
every other responsible employment must necessarily have, 
is, after all, a calm and quiet pursuit, which they follow from 
month to month, and from year to year, A\dthout any extra- 
ordmaiy agitations, or any unusual burdens of anxiety imd 



36 THE TEACHEE. 

There are, indeed, such cases, but they are exceptions, and 
unquestionably a considerable majority, especially of those 
who are beginners in the work, find it such as I have de- 
scribed. I think it need not be so, or, rather, I think the 
evil may be avoided to a vei^ great degree. In this chapter I 
shall endeavor to show how order may be produced out of 
that almost inextricable mass of confusion into which so 
many teachers, on commencing their labors, find themselves 
plunged. 

The objects, then, to be aimed at in the general arrange- 
ments of schools are twofold : 

1. That the teacher may be left uninterrupted, to attend 
to one thing at a time. 

2. That the individual scholars may have constant em-, 
ployment, and such an amount and such kinds of study as 
shall be suited to the circumstances and capacities of each. 

I shall examine each in their order. 

1. The following are the principal things which, in avast 
number of schools, are all the time pressing upon the teach- 
er ; or, rather, they are the things which must every where 
press upon the teacher, except so far as, by the skill of his 
arrangements, he contrives to remove them. 

1. Giving leave to whisper or to leave seats. 

2. Distributing and changing pens. 

3. Answering questions in regard to studies. 

4. Hearing recitations. 

5. Watching the behavior of the scholars. 

6. Administering reproof and punishment for offenses as 
they occur. 

A pretty large number of objects of attention and care, one 
would say, to be pressing upon the mind of the teacher at one 
and the same time — and all the time too ! Hundreds and 
hundreds of teachers in every part of our country, there is no 
doubt, have all these crowding upon them from morning to 
night, with no cessation, except perhaps some accidental and 



GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS. 37 

momentary respite. During the winter months, while the 
principal common schools in om* country are in operation, it 
is sad to reflect how many teachers come home every even- 
ing with bewildered and aching heads, having been vainly 
trying all the day to do six things at a time, while He who 
made the human mind has determined that it shall do but 
one. How many become discouraged and disheartened by 
what they consider the unavoidable trials of a teacher's Ufe, 
and give up in despair, just because their faculties will not 
sustain a six-fold task. There are multitudes who, m early 
life, attempted teaching, and, after having been worried, al- 
most to distraction, by the simultaneous pressure of these 
multifarious cares, gave up the employment in disgust, and 
now unceasingly wonder how any body can like teaching. I 
know multitudes of persons to whom the above description 
will exactly apply. 

I once heard a teacher who had been very successful, even 
in large schools, say that he could hear two classes recite, 
mend pens, and watch his school all at the same time, and 
that without any distraction of mind or any unusual fatigue. 
Of course the recitations in such a case must be from mem- 
ory. There are very few minds, however, which can thus 
perform triple or quadruple work, and probably none which 
can safely be tasked so severely. For my part, I can do but 
one thing at a time; and I have no question that the true 
policy for all is to learn not to do every thing at once, but so 
to classify and arrange their work that they shall hare but one 
thing at once to do. Instead of vainly attempting to attend 
simultaneously to a dozen things, they should so plan their 
work that only one will demand attention. 

Let us, then, examine the various particulars above men- 
tioned in succession, and see how each can be disposed of, so 
as not to be a constant source of interruption and derange- 
ment. 

1. Whispering and leaving seats. In regard to this subject 



38 THE TEACHER. 

there are very different methods now in practice in different 
schools. In some, especially in very small schools, the teach- 
er allows the pupils to act according to their own discretion. 
They whisper and leave their seats whenever they think it 
necessary. This plan may possibly be admissible in a very 
small school, that is, in one of ten or twelve pupils. I am 
convinced, however, that it is a very bad plan even here. No 
vigilant watch which it is possible for any teacher to exert 
will prevent a vast amount of mere talk entirely foreign to 
the business of the school. I tried this plan very thorough- 
ly, with high ideas of the dependence which might be placed 
upon conscience and a sense of duty, if these principles are 
properly brought out to action in an effort to sustain the sys- 
tem. I was told by distinguished teachers that it would not 
be found to answer. But predictions of failure in such cases 
only prompt to greater exertions, and I persevered. But I 
was forced at last to give up the point, and adopt another 
plan. My pupils would make resolutions enough ; they un- 
derstood their duty well enough. They were allowed to 
leave their seats and whisper to their companions whenever, 
in their honest judgment, it ivas necessary for the 2^'>'osecution of 
their studies. I knew that it sometimes would be necessary, 
and I was desirous to adopt this plan to save myself the con- 
stant interruption of hearing and replying to requests. But 
it would not do. Whenever, from time-to time, I called them 
to account, I found that a large majority, according to their 
own confession, were in the habit of holding daily and delib- 
erate communication with each other on subjects entirely 
foreign to the business of the school. A more experienced 
teacher would have predicted this result ; but I had very 
high ideas of the power of cultivated conscience, and, in fact, 
still have. But then, like most other persons who become 
possessed of a good idea, I could not be satisfied without car- 
rying it to an extreme. 

Still it is necessary, in ordinary schools, to give pupils 



GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS. 39 

sometimes the opportunity to whisper and leave seats* 
Cases occur where this is unavoidable. It can not, there- 
fore, be forbidden altogether. How, then, you will ask, can 
the teacher regulate this practice, so as to prevent the evils 
which will otherwise flow from it, without being continually 
interrupted by the request for permission ? 

By a very simple method. Approi^triate 2)cirticiilar times at 
ivhich all this business is to be done, and forbid it altogether at 
every other time. It is well, on other accounts, to give the 
pupils of a school a little respite, at least every hour ; and 
if this is done, an intermission of study for two minutes each 
time will be sufficient. During this time general permission 
should be given for the pupils to speak to each other, or to 
leave their seats, provided they do nothing at such a time to 
disturb the studies of others. This plan I have myself very 
thoroughly tested, and no arrangement which I ever made 
operated for so long a time so uninterruptedly and so entire- 
ly to my satisfaction as this. It of course will require some 
little time, and no little firmness, to establish the new order 
of things where a school has been accustomed to another 
course ; but where this is once done, I know no one plan so 
simple and so easily put into execution which will do so 
much toward relie^ang the teacher of the distraction and per- 
plexity of his pursuits. 

In making the change, however, it is of fundamental im- 
portance that the pupils should themselves be interested in 
it. Their co-operation, or, rather, the co-operation of the 
majority, which it is very easy to obtain, is absolutely essen- 
tial to success. I say this is very easily obtained. Let us 
suppose that some teacher, who has been accustomed to re- 
quire his pupils to ask and obtain permission every time they 
wish to speak to a companion, is induced by these remarks 
to introduce this plan. He says, accordingly, to his school, 

* There are some large and peculiarly-organized schools in cities and 
large towns to which this remark may perhaps not npp1y. 



40 THE TEACHER. 

"You know that you are now accustomed to ask me 
whenever you wish to obtain permission to whisper to a 
companion or to leave your seats ; now I have been think- 
ing of a plan which will be better for both you and me. By 
our present plan you are sometimes obliged to wait before I 
can attend to your request. Sometimes I think it is unnec- 
essary, and deny you, when perhaps I was mistaken, and it 
was really necessary. At other times, I think it very prob- 
able that when it is quite desirable for you to leave your 
seat you do not ask, because you think you may not obtain 
permission, and you do not wish to ask and be refused. Do 
you, or not, experience these inconveniences from our pres- 
ent plans ?" 

The pupils would undoubtedly answer in the affirmative. 

" I myself experience great inconvenience too. I am very 
frequently interrupted when busily engaged, and it also oc- 
cupies a great portion of my time and attention to consider 
and answer your requests for permission to speak to one an- 
other and to leave your seats. It requires as much mental 
effort to consider and decide whether I ought to allow a pu- 
pil to leave his seat, as it would to determine a much more 
important question; therefore I do not like our present plan, 
and I have another to propose." 

The pupils are now all attention to know what the new 
plan is. It will always be of great advantage to the school 
for the teacher to propose his new plans from time to time 
to his pupils in such a way as this. It interests them in the 
improvement of the school, exercises their judgment, estab- 
lishes a common feeling between teacher and pupil, and in 
many other ways assists very much in promoting the welfare 
of the school. 

"My plan," continues the teacher, "is this: to allow you 
all, besides the recess, a short time, two or three minutes 
perhaps, every hour" (or every half hour, according to the 
character of the school, the age of the pupils, or other cir- 



GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS. 41 

cumstances, to be judged of by the teacher), " during which 
you may all whisper or leave your seats witliout asking per- 
mission." 

Instead of deciding the question of the frequency of this 
general permission, the teacher may, if he pleases, leave it 
to the pupils to decide. It is often useful to leave the de- 
cision of such a question to them. On this subject, how- 
ever, I shall speak in another place. It is only necessary 
here to say that this point may be safely left to them, since 
the time is so small which is to be thus appropriated. Even 
if they vote to have the general permission to whisper every 
half hour, it Avill make but eight minutes in the forenoon. 
There being six half hours in the forenoon, and one of them 
ending at the close of school, and another at the recess, only 
four of these rests, as a military man would call them, would 
be necessary; and four, of two minutes each, would make 
eight minutes. If the teacher thinks that evil would result 
from the interruption of the studies so often, he may offer 
the pupils three minutes rest every hour instead of two min- 
utes every half hour, and let them take their choice ; or he 
may decide the case altogether himself. 

Such a change, from ixirticular permission on individual re- 
quests to general permission at stated times, would unquestion- 
ably be popular in every school, if the teacher managed the 
business properly. And by presenting it as an object of com- 
mon interest, an arrangement proposed for the common con- 
venience of teacher and pupils, the latter may be much in- 
terested in carrying the plan into effect. We must not rely, 
however, entirely upon their interest in it. All that we can 
expect from such an effort to interest them, as I have de- 
scribed and recommended, is to get a majority on our side, 
so that we may have only a small minority to deal with by 
other measures. Still, ive must calculate on having this minor- 
itij, and form our plans accordingbj, or we shall be greatly dis- 
appointed. I shall, however, in another place, speak of this 



42 THE TEACHER. 

principle of interesting the pupils in our plans for the pur- | 
pose of securing a majority in our favor, and explain the ' 
methods by which the minority is then to be governed. I 
only mean here to say that, by such means, the teacher may 
easily interest a large proportion of the scholars in carrying 
his plans into effect, and that he must expect to be prepared 
with other measures for those who will not be governed by 
these. 

You can not reasonably expect, however, that, immediate- 
ly after having explained your plan, it will at once go into 
full and complete operation. Even those who are firmly de- 
termined to keep the rule will, from inadvertence, for a day 
or two, make communication with each other. They must 
be trained, not by threatening and punishment, but by your 
good-humored assistance, to their new duties. When I first 
adopted this plan in my school, something like the following 
proceedings took place. 

" Do you suppose that you will perfectly keep this rule 
from this timef 

''No, sir," was the answer. 

" I suppose you will not. Some, I am afraid, may not re- 
ally be determined to keep it, and others will forget. Now 
I wish that every one of you would keep an exact account 
to-day of all the instances in which you speak to another per- 
son, or leave your seat, out of the regular times, and be pre- 
pared to report them at the close of the school. Of course, 
there will be no punishment ; but it will very much assist 
you to watch yourselves, if you expect to make a report at 
the end of the forenoon. Do you like this plan f 

"Yes, sir," was the answer; and all seemed to enter into 
it with spirit. 

In order to mark more definitely the times for communi- 
cation, I wrote, in large letters, on a piece of pasteboard, 
" Study Hours," and making a hole over the centre of it, I 
hung it upon a nail over my desk. At the close of each half 



GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS. 43 

hour a little bell was to be struck, and this card was to be 
taken down. When it was up, they were, on no occasion 
whatever (except some such extraordinary occurrence as sick- 
ness, or my sending one of them on a message to another, or 
something clearly out of the common course) to speak to each 
other; but were to wait, whatever they wanted, until the 
Studij Card, as they called it, was taken down. 

" Suppose now," said I, " that a young lady has come 
into school, and has accidentally left her book in the entiy — 
the book from which she is to study during the first half hour 
of the school. She sits near the door, and she might, in a 
moment, slip out and obtain it. If she does not, she must 
spend the half hour in idleness, and be unprepared in her les- 
son. What is it her duty to do?" 

"To go," "Not to go," answered the scholars, simultane- 
ously. 

" It would be her duty not to go ; but I suppose it will be 
very difficult for me to convince you of it. 

" The reason is this," I continued ; " if the one case I have 
supposed were the only one which would be likely to occur, 
it would undoubtedly be better for her to go ; but if it is un- 
derstood that in such cases the rule may be dispensed with, 
that understanding will tend very much to cause such cases 
to occur. Scholars will differ in reoard to the deoree of in- 
convenience which they must submit to rather than break 
the rule. They will gradually do it on slighter and slighter 
occasions, until at last the rule will be disregarded entirely. 
We must therefore draw a precise line, and individuals must 
submit to a little inconvenience sometimes to promote the 
general good." 

At the close of the day I requested all in the school to 
rise. While they were standing, I called them to account in 
the following manner : 

" Now it is very probable that some have, from inadvert- 
ence or from design, omitted to keep an account of the num- 



44 THE TEACHER. 

ber of transgressions of the rule which thej have committed 
during the day ; others, perhaps, do not Avish to make a re- 
port of themselves. Now as this is a common and voluntary 
effort, I wish to have none render assistance who do not, of 
their own accord, desire to do so. All those, therefore, who 
are not able to make a report, from not having been correct 
in keeping it, and all those who are unwilling to report them- 
selves, may sit." 

A very small number hesitatingly took their seats. 

"I am afraid that all do not sit who really wish not to 
report themselves. Now I am honest in saying I wisli you 
to do just as you please. If a great majority of the school 
really wish to assist me in accomplishing the object, why, of 
course, I am glad ; still, I shall not call upon any for such 
assistance unless it is freely and voluntarily rendered." 

One or two more took their seats while these things were 
saying. Among such there would generally be some who 
would refuse to have any thing to do Avith the measure sim- 
ply from a desire to thwart and impede the plans of the teach- 
er. If so, it is best to take no notice of them. If the teach- 
er can contrive to obtain a gi-eat majority upon his side, so 
as to let them see that any opposition which they can raise 
is of no consequence and is not even noticed, they will soon 
be ashamed of it. 

The reports, then, of those who remained standing were 
called for; first, those who had whispered only once were 
requested to sit, then those who had whispered more than 
once and less than five times, and so on, until at last all were 
down. In such a case the pupils might, if thought expedi- 
ent, again be requested to rise for the purpose of asking some 
other questions witli reference to ascertaining whether they 
had spoken most in the former or latter part of the forenoon. 
The number who had spoken inadvertently, and the number 
who had done it by design, might be ascertained. These in- 
quiries accustom the pupils to render honest and faithful ac- 



GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS. 45 

counts of tliemselves. They become, by such means, famil- 
iarized to the practice, and by means of it the teacher can 
many times receive most important assistance. 

Li all this, however, the teacher should speak in a pleas- 
ant tone, and maintain a pleasant and cheerful air. The ac- 
knowledgments should be considered by the pu^jils not as con- 
fessions of guilt for wdiich they are to be rebuked or punish- 
ed, but as voluntary and free reports of the result of an ex- 
periment in w^hich all were interested. 

Some will have been dishonest in their reports : to dimin- 
ish the number of these, the teacher may say, after the report 
is concluded, 

"We will drop the subject here to-day. To-morrow we 
W'ill make another effort, Avhen we shall be more successful. 
I have taken your rej^orts as you have offered them without 
any inquiry, because I had no doubt that a great majority 
of this school would be honest at all hazards. They would 
not, I am confident, make a false report even if, by a true 
one, they were to bring upon themselves punishment ; so that 
I think I may have confidence that nearly all these reports 
have been faithful. Still it is very probable that among so 
large a number some may have made a report which, they 
are no^v aware, was not perfectly fair and honest. I do not 
wish to know who they are ; if there are any such cases, I 
only wish to say to the rest how much pleasanter it is lor 
you that you have been honest and open. The business is 
now all ended ; you have done your duty ; and, though you 
reported a little larger number than you would if you had 
been disposed to conceal your faults, yet you go away from 
school with a quiet conscience. On the other hand, how 
miserable must any boy feel, if he has any nobleness of mind 
whatever, to go away from school to-day thinking that he 
has not been honest ; that he has been trying to conceal his 
faults, and thus to obtain a credit which he did not justly de- 
serve. Always be hones ' let the consequence be what it may." 



46 THE TEACHER. 

The reader will understand that the object of such meas- 
ures is simply to secure as large a majority as j^ossible to make 
voluntary eiForts to observe the rule. I do not expect that 
by such measures universal obedience can be exacted. The 
teacher must follow up the plan after a few days by other 
measures for those pupils who will not yield to such induce- 
ments as these. Upon this subject, however, I shall speak 
more particularly at a future time. 

In my own school it required two or three weeks to ex- 
clude whispering and communication by signs. The period 
necessary to effect the revolution will be longer or shorter, 
according to the circumstances of the school and the dexter- 
ity of the teacher ; and, after all, the teacher must not hope 
entirely to exclude it. Approximation to excellence is all 
that we can expect ; for unprincipled and deceiving charac- 
ters will perhaps always be found, and no system whatever 
can prevent their existence. Proper treatment may indeecT 
be the means of their reformation, but before this process 
has arrived at a successful result, others similar in character 
will have entered the school, so that the teacher can never 
expect perfection in the operation of any of his plans. 

I found so much relief from the change which this plan 
introduced, that I soon took measures for rendering it per- 
manent ; and though I am not much in fixvor of efforts to 
bring all teachers and all schools to the same plans, this prin- 
ciple of whispering at limited and prescribed times alone seems 
to me well suited to universal adoption. 

The following simple apparatus has been used in several 
schools where this principle has been adopted. A drawing 
and description of it is inserted here, as by this means some 
teachers, who may like to try the course here recommended, 
may be saved the time and trouble of contriving something 
of the kind themselves. 

The figure a a a a o\\ the next page is a board about 18 
inches by 12, to which the other parts of the apparatus are 



GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS. 



47 




to be attached, and which is to be secured to the wall at the 
height of about 8 feet, and b c d c is Si 
plate of tin or brass, 8 inches by 12, of 
the form represented in the drawing. At 
c c, the lower extremities of the parts at 
the sides, the metal is bent round, so as to 
clasp a wire which runs from c to c, the 
ends of which wire are bent at right an- 
gles, and run into the board. The plate 
will consequently turn on this axis as on 
a hinge. At the top of the plate, d, a 
small projection of the tin turns inward, 
and to this one end of the cord, m m, is at- 
tached. This cord passes back from d to 
a small pulley at the upper part of the 
board, and at the lower end of it a tassel, 
loaded so as to be an exact counterpoise 
to the card, is attached. By raising the 
tassel, the plate will of course fall over 
forward till it is stopped by the part b 
striking the board, when it will be in a 
horizontal position. On the other hand, 
by pulling down the tassel, the plate will 
be raised and drawn upward against the 
board, so as to present its convex surface, 
with the words Study Hours upon it, dis- 
tinctly to the school. In the drawing it 
is represented in an inclined position, being not quite drawn 
up, that the parts might more easily be seen. At d there is 
a small projection of the tin upward, which touches the clap- 
per of the bell suspended above ever,y time the plate passes 
up or down, and thus gives notice of its motions. 

Of course the construction may be varied very much, and 
it may be more or less expensive, according to the wishes of 
the teacher. In the first apparatus of this kind which I 



48 THE TEACHER. 

used, the plate was simply a card of pasteboard, from which 
the machine took its name. This was cut out with a pen- 
knife, and, after being covered with marble-paper, a strip of 
white paper was pasted along the middle with the inscription 
upon it. The wire c c, and a similar one at the top of the 
plate, were passed through a perforation in the pasteboard, 
and then passed into the board. Instead of a pulley, the 
cord, which was a piece of twine, was passed through a lit- 
tle staple made of wire and driven into the board. The 
whole was made in one or two recesses in school, with such 
tools and materials as I could then command. The bell was 
a common table bell, with a wire passing through the han- 
dle. The whole was attached to such a piece of pine board 
as I could get on the occasion. This coarse contrivance 
was, for more than a year, the grand regulator of all the 
movements of the school. 

I afterward caused one to be made in a better manner. 
The plate was of tin, gilded, the border and the letters of the 
inscription being black. A parlor bell-rope was carried over 
a brass pnlley, and then passed downward in a groove made 
in the mahogany board to which the card was attached. 

A little reflection will, however, show the teacher that the 
form and construction of the apparatus for marking the times 
of study and of rest may be greatly varied. The chief point 
is simply to secure the iwinciple of whispering at definite and 
limited times, and at those alone. If such an arrangement 
is adopted, and carried faithfully into effect, it will be found 
to relieve the teacher of more than half of the confusion and 
perplexity which would otherwise be his hourly lot. I have 
detailed thus particularly the method to be pursued in carry- 
ing this principle into eiFect, because I am convinced of its 
importance, and the incalculable assistance which such an 
arrangement will afford to the teacher in all his plans. Of 
course, I would not be understood to recommend its adoption 
in those cases where teachers, from their own exoerience. 



GENERAL AKKANGE3IENTS. 49 

have devised and adopted other plans which accomplish as ef- 
fectually the same purpose. All that I mean is to insist upon 
the absolute necessity of some plan, to remove this very com- 
mon source of interruption and confusion, and I recommend 
this mode where a better is not known. 

2. The second of the sources of interruption, as I have enu- 
merated them, is the distribution of pens and of stationery. 
This business ought, if possible, to have a specific time as- 
signed to it. Scholars are, in general, far too particular in 
regard to their pens. The teacher ought to explain to them 
that, in the transaction of the ordinary business of life, they 
can not always have exactly such a pen as they w^ould like. 
They must learn to write with various kinds of pens, and 
when furnished with one that the teacher himself would con- 
sider suitable to write a letter to a friend mth, he must be 
content. They should understand that the form of the let- 
ters is what is important in learning to write, not the smooth- 
ness and clearness of the hair lines ; and that though writing 
looks better when executed with a perfect pen, a person may 
learn to write nearly as well with one which is not absolute- 
ly perfect. So certain is this, though often overlooked, that 
a person would perhaps learn faster with chalk, upon a black 
board, than with the best goose-quill ever sharpened. 

I do not make these remarks to show that it is of no con- 
sequence whether scholars have good or bad pens, but only 
that this subject deserves very much less of the time and at- 
tention of the teacher than it usually receives. When the 
scholars are allowed, as they very often are, to come when 
they please to change their pens, breaking in upon any busi- 
ness — interrupting any classes — perplexing and embarrassing 
the teacher, however he may be employed, there is a very 
serious obstruction to the progress of the scholars, which is 
by no means repaid by the improvement in this branch. 

To guard against these evils, a regular and well-considered 
system should be adopted for the distribution of pens and sta- 

C 



50 THE TEACHER. 

lioueiy, tiiid when adopted it should be strictly and steadily- 
adhered to. 

3. Answering questions about studies. A teacher who 
<loes not adopt some system in regard to this subject will be 
always at the mercy of his scholars. One boy will want to 
know how to parse a word, another where the lesson is, an- 
other to have a sum explained, and a fourth will wish to 
show his work to see if it is right. The teacher does not like 
to discourage such inquiries. Each one, as it comes up, seems 
necessary ; each one, too, is answered in a moment ; but the 
endless number and the continual repetition of them consume 
his time and exhaust his patience. 

There is another view of the subject which ought to be 
taken. Perhaps it would not be far from the truth to esti- 
mate the average number of scholars in the schools in our 
country at fifty. At any rate, this will be near enough for 
our present purpose. There are three hours in each session, 
according to the usual arrangement, making one hundred and 
eighty minutes, which, divided among fifty, give about three 
minutes and a half to each individual. If the reader has, in 
liis own school, a greater or a less number, he can easily cor- 
rect the above calculation, so as to adajDt it to his own case, 
and ascertain the portion which may justly be ajDpropriated 
to each pupil. It will probably vary from two to four min- 
utes. Now a period of four minytes slips away very fast 
while a man is looking over jDcrplexing figures on a slate, and 
if he exceeds that time at all in individual attention to any 
one scholar, he is doing injustice to his other puj)ils. I do 
not mean that a man is to confine himself rigidly to the prin- 
ciple suggested by this calculation of cautiously appropriat- 
ing no more time to any one of his pupils than such a calcu- 
lation would assign to each, but simply that this is a point 
which should be kept in view, and should have a very strong 
influence in deciding how far it is right to devote attention 
exclusively to individuals. It seems to me that it shows very 



GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS. 51 

clearly that one ought to teach his pupils, as much as possi- 
ble, in masses, and as little as possible by private attention to 
individual cases. 

The following directions will help the teacher to carry 
these principles into effect. When you assign a lesson, glance 
over it yourself, and consider what difficulties are likely to 
arise. You know the progress which your pupils have made, 
and can easily anticipate their difficulties. Tell them all to- 
gether, in the class, what their difficulties will be, and how 
they may surmount them. Give them directions how they 
are to act in the emergencies which will be likely to occur. 
This simple step will remove a vast number of the questions 
which would otherwise become occasions for interrupting you. 
With regard to other difficulties, which can not be foreseen 
and guarded against, direct the pupils to bring them to the 
class at the next recitation. Haifa dozen of the class might, 
and very probably would, meet with the same difficulty. If 
they bring this difficulty to you one by one, you have to ex- 
plain it over and over again, whereas, when it is brought to 
the class, one explanation answers for all. 

As to all questions about the lesson — where it is, what it 
is, and how long it is^never answer them. Require each 
pupil to remember for himself, and if he was absent when the 
lesson was assigned, let him ask his class-mate in a rest. 

You ma?/ refuse to give particular individuals the private 
assistance they ask for in such a way as to discourage and 
irritate them, but this is by no means necessary. It can be 
done in such a manner that the pupil will see the propriety 
of it, and acquiesce pleasantly in it. 

A child comes to you, for example, and says, 

"WiU you tell me, sir, where the next lesson isf 

" Were you not in the class at the time ?" 

" Yes, sir ; but I have forgotten." 

"Well, I have forgotten too. I have a great many classes 
to hear, and, of course, a great many lessons to assign, and 



52 TJIE TEACllEK. 

I never remember them. It is not necessary for me to re- 
member." 

" May I speak to one of the class to ask about it V 

"You can not speak, you know, till the Study Card is 
down ; you may then." 

" But I want to get my lesson now." 

"I don't know what you will do, then. I am sorry you 
don't remember. 

"Besides," continues the teacher, looking pleasantly, how- 
ever, while he says it, "if I knew, I think I ought not to tell 
you." 

"Why, sir?" 

"Because, you know, I have said I wish the scholars to 
remember where the lessons are, and not come to me. You 
know it would be very unwise for me, after assigning a les- 
son once for all in the class, to spend my time here at my 
desk in assigning it over again to each individual one by one. 
Now if I should tell ?/ozi where the lesson is now, I should 
have to tell others, and thus should adopt a practice which 
I have condemned." 

Take another case. You assign to a class of little girls a 
subject of composition, requesting them to copy their writ- 
ing upon a sheet of paper, leaving a margin an inch wide 
at the lop, and one of half an inch at the sides and bottom. 
The class take their seats, and, after a short time, one of 
them comes to you, saying she does not know how long an 
inch is. 

" Don't you know any thing about it f 

"No, sir, not much." 

" Should you think that is more or less than an inch ?" 
(pointing to a space on a piece of paper much too large). 

"More." 

" Then you know something about it. Now I did not tell 
you to make the margins exactly an inch and half an inch, 
but only as near as you could judge." 



GENERAL ARRAKGEMEXTS. 53 

"Would that be about right?" asks the girl, showing a 
distance. 

" I must not tell you, because, you know, I never in such 
cases help individuals ; if that is as near as you can get it, 
you may make it so." 

It may be well, after assigning a lesson to a class, to say 
that all those who do not distinctly understand what they 
have to do may remain after the class have taken their seats, 
and ask : the task may then be distinctly assigned again, and 
the difficulties, so far as they can be foreseen, explained. 

By such means these sources of interruption and difficulty 
may, like the others, be almost entirely removed. Perhaps 
not altogether, for many cases may occur where the teacher 
may choose to give a particular class permission to come to 
him for help. Such permission, however, ought never to be 
given unless it is absolutely necessary, and should never be 
allowed to be taken unless it is distinctly given. 

4. Hearing recitations. I am aware that many attempt 
to do something else at the same time that they are hearing 
a recitation, and there may perhaps be some individuals who 
can succeed in this. If the exercise to which the teacher is 
attending consists merely in listening to the reciting word for 
word some passage committed to memory, it can be done. I 
hope, liowever, to show" in a future chapter that there are 
other and far higher objects which every teacher ought to 
have in view in his recitations, and he who understands these 
objects^ and aims at accomplishing them — w^ho endeavors to 
instruct his class, to enlarge and elevate their ideas, to awaken 
a deep and paramount interest in the subject which they are 
examining, will find that his time must be his own, and his 
attention uninterrupted while he is presiding at a class. All 
the other exercises and arrangements of the school are, in 
fact, preparatory and subsidiary to this. Here, that is, in 
the classes, the real business of teaching is to be done. Here 
the teacher comes in contact wuth his scholars mind wuth 



a THE TEACHER. 

mincl, and here, consequently, he must be uninterrupted and 
undisturbed. I shall speak more particularly on this subject 
hereafter under the head of instruction ; all I wish to secure 
in this place is that the teacher should make such arrange- 
ments that he can devote his exclusive attention to his class- 
es while he is actually engaged with them. 

Each recitation, too, should have its specified time, which 
should be adhered to Avith rigid accuracy. If any thing like 
the plan I have suggested for allowing rests of a minute or 
two every half hour should be adopted, it will mark oif the 
forenoon into parts which ought to be precisely and carefully 
observed. I was formerly accustomed to think that I could 
not limit the time for my recitations without great incon- 
venience, and occasionally allowed one exercise to encroach 
upon the succeeding, and this upon the next, and thus some- 
times the last was excluded altogether. But such a lax and 
irregular method of procedure is ruinous to the discipline of 
a school. On perceiving it at last, I put the bell into the 
hands of a pupil, commissioning her to ring regularly, hav- 
ing myself fixed the times, saying that I would show my pu- 
pils that I could be confined myself to system as well as they. 
At first I experienced a little inconvenience ; but this soon 
disappeared, and at last the hours and half hours of our ar- 
tificial division entirely superseded, in the school-room, the 
divisions of the clock face. I found, too, that it exerted an 
extremely favorable influence upon the scholars in respect to 
their willingness to submit readily to the necessary restric- 
tions imposed upon them in school, to show them that the 
teacher was subject to law as well as they. 

But, in order that I may be specific and definite, I will 
draw up a plan for the regular division of time, for a com- 
mon school, not to be adopted, but to be imitcded ; that is, I 
do not recommend exactly this plan, but that some plan, pre- 
cise and specific, should be determined upon, and exhibited to 
the school by a diagram like the following: 



GENERAL ARRANGEJWEIsTS, 



IX. 


FOKEXOON. 
X. XL 


XII. 


BEADING. 


WKITING. 


K. 


G. 


AKITHAIETIC. 














i 



AFTERNOON. 
II. in. IV. V. 



GEOGEAPHY. 


WETTING. 


E. 


G. 


GEAMMAE. | 












j 

i : 



A drawing on a large sheet, made by some of the older 
scholars (for a teacher should never do any thing of this kind 
which his scholars can do for him), should be made and 
pasted up to view, the names of the classes being inserted in 
the columns under their respective heads. At the double 
lines at ten and three, there might be a rest of two minutes, 
an officer appointed for the purpose ringing a bell at each 
of the periods marked on the plan, and making the signal for 
the rest, whatever signal might be determined upon. It is a 
good plan to have the bell touched five minutes before each 
half hour expires, and then exactly at its close. The first 
bell would notify the teacher or teachers, if there are more 
than one in the school, that the time for their respective rec- 
itations is drawing to a close. At the second bell the new 
classes should take their places without waiting to be called 
for. The scholars will thus see that the arrangements of the 
school are based upon system, to which the teacher himself 
conforms, and not subjected to his own varjdng will. They 
will thus not only go on more regularly, but they will them- 
selves yield more easily and pleasantly to the necessary ar- 
rangements. 

The fact is, children love system and regularity. Each 



56 THE TEACHEPw. 

one is sometimes a little uneasy under the restraint which 
it imposes upon him individually, but they all love to see its 
operation upon others, and they are generally very willing 
to submit to its laws, if the rest of the community are re- 
quired to submit too. They show this in their love of mili- 
tary parade; what allures them is chiefly the order of it; 
and even a little child creeping upon the floor will be pleased 
when he gets his playthings in a row. A teacher may turn 
this principle to most useful account in forming his plans for 
his school, in obser\dng that the teacher is governed by them 
too as well as they. 

It will be seen by reference to the foregoing plan that I 
have marked the time for the recesses by the letter R. at the 
top. Immediately after them, both in the forenoon and in 
the afternoon, twenty minutes are left, marked G., the initial 
standing for general exercise. They are intended to denote 
periods during which all the scholars are in their seats, with 
their work laid aside, ready to attend to whatever the teach- 
er may desire to bring before the whole school. There are 
so many occasions on which it is necessary to address the 
whole school, that it is very desirable to appropriate a par- 
ticular time for it. In most of the best schools I believe this 
plan is adopted. I will mention some of the subjects which 
would come up at such a time. 

1. There are. some studies Avhicli can be advantageously 
attended to by the whole school together, such as Punctua- 
tion, and, to some extent. Spelling. 

2. Cases of discipline which it is necessary to bring be- 
fore the whole school ought to come up at a regularly-ap- 
pointed time. By attending to them here, there will be a 
greater importance attached to them. Wliatever the teacher 
does will seem to be more deliberate, and, in fact, icUl he 
more deliberate. 

3. General remarks, bringing up classes of faults which 
prevail ; also general directions, which may at any time be 



GEXERAL ARRANGEMENTS. o7 

needed ; and, in fact, any business relating to tlie general ar- 
rangements of the school. 

4. Familiar lectures from tlie teacher on various subjects. 
These lectures, though necessarily brief and quite familiar in 
their form, may still be very exact and thorough in respect 
to the knowledge conveyed. When they are upon scientific 
subjects they may sometimes be illustrated by experiments, 




more or less imposing, according to the ingenuity of the 
teacher, the capacity of the older scholars to assist him in the 
preparations, or the means and facilities at his command.* 

* In some of the larger institutions of the country the teacher will 
have convenient apparatus at bis disposal, and a room specially adapted 
to the purpose of experiments. The engraving represents a room at 
the Spingler Institute at Nevs^ York. But let not the teacher suppose 
that these special facilities are essential to enable him to give instruction 
to bis pupils in such a way. I have known a much larger balloon than 
the one represented in the engraving to be constructed by the teacher 
and pupils of a common country school from directions in Rees's Cyclo- 
pedia, and sent up in the open air. The aeronaut that accompanied it 
was a hen — poor thing ! 



0» THE TEACHER. 

The design of such lectures should be to extend the general 
knowledge of the pupils in regard to those subjects on which 
they will need information in their progress through life. In 
regard to each of these particulars I shall speak more partic- 
ularly hereafter, in the chapters to which they respectively 
belong. My only object here is to show, in the general ar- 
rangements of the school, how a place is to be found for 
them. My practice has been to have two periods of short 
duration, each day, appropriated to these objects : the first to 
the business of the school, and the second to such studies or lec- 
tures as could be most profitably attended to at such a time. 

We come now to one of the most important subjects which 
present themselves to the teacher's attention in settling the 
principles upon which he shall govern his school. I mean 
the degree of influence which the boys themselves shall have 
in the management of its affairs. Shall the government of 
school be a monarch^/ or a republic 1 To this question, after 
much inquiry and many experiments, I answer, a monarchy ; 
an absolute, unlimited monarchy ; the teacher possessing ex- 
clusive power as far as the pupils are concerned, though 
strictly responsible to the committee or to the trustees under 
whom he holds his office. 

While, however, it is thus distinctly understood that the 
power of the teacher is supreme, that all the power rests in 
him, and that he alone is responsible for its exercise, there 
ought to be a very free and continual delegation of power to 
the pupils. As much business as is possible should be com- 
mitted to them. They should be interested as much as pos- 
sible in the affairs of the school, and led to take an active 
part in carrying them forward ; though they should, all the 
time, distinctly understand that it is only delegated power 
which they exercise, and that the teacher can, at any time, 
revoke what he has granted, and alter or annul at pleasure 
any of their decisions. By this plan we have the responsi- 



GENERAL AKRANGEilENTS. 09 

bility resting where it ought to rest, and yet the boys are 
trained to business, and led to take an active interest in the 
welfare of the school. Trust is reposed in them, which may 
be greater or less, as they are able to bear. All the good ef- 
fects of reposing trust and confidence, and committing the 
management of important business to the pupils will be se- 
cured, without the dangers which would result from the en- 
tire surrender of the management of the institution into their 
hands. 

There have been, in several cases, experiments made with 
reference to ascertaining how far a government strictly re- 
publican would be admissible in a school. A very fair ex- 
periment of this kind was made some years since at the Gar- 
diner Lyceum, in Maine. At the time of its establishment, 
nothino; was said of the mode of wvernment w^hich it was in- 
tended to adopt. For some time the attention of the instruct- 
ors w^as occupied in arranging the course of study, and at- 
tending to the other concerns of the institution ; and, in the 
infant state of the Lyceum, few cases of discipline occuiTed. 
and no regular system of government was necessary. 

Before long, however, complaints were made that the stu- 
dents at the Lyceum were guilty of breaking windows in an 
old building used as a town-house. The principal called the 
students together, mentioned the reports, and said that he did 
not know, and did not wish to know who were the guilty in- 
dividuals. It was necessary, however, that the thing should 
be examined into, and that restitution should be made, and, 
relying on their faithfulness and ability, he should leave them 
to manage the business alone. For this purpose, he nominated 
one of the students as judge, some others as jurymen, and ap- 
pointed the other officers necessary in the same manner. Ho 
told them that, in order to give them time to make a thor- 
ough investigation, they were excused from farther exerciser 
during the day. 

The principal then left them, and they entered on the 



()0 THE TEACHER. 

trial. The result vras that thej discovered the guilty indi- 
viduals, ascertained the amount of mischief done by each, 
and sent to the selectmen a message, by which they agreed 
to pay a sum equal to three times the value of the injury sus- 
tained. 

The students were soon after informed that this mode of 
bringing offenders to justice would hereafter be always pur- 
sued, and arrangements were made for organizing a regular 
republican govermnent among the young men. By this gov- 
ernment all laws which related to the internal police of the 
institution were to be made, all officers were appointed, and 
all criminal cases were to be tried. The students finding the 
part of a judge too difficult for them to sustain, one of the 
professors was appointed to hold that office, and, for similar 
reasons, another of the professors was made president of the 
legislative assembly. The principal was the executive, with 
power to ^x^rcZo??, but not to sentence, or even accuse. 

Some time after this a student was indicted for profane 
swearing; he was tried, convicted, and punished. After 
this he evinced a strong hostility to the government. He 
made great exertions to bring it into contempt, and when 
the next trial came on, he endeavored to persuade the wit- 
nesses that giving evidence was dishonorable, and he so far 
succeeded that the defendant was acquitted for want of evi- 
dence, when it was generally understood that there was proof 
of his guilt, which would have been satisfactory if it could have 
been brought forward. For some time after this the pros- 
pect was rather unfavorable, though many of the students 
themselves opposed with great earnestness these efforts, and 
were much alarmed lest they should lose their free govern- 
ment through the perverseness of one of their number. The 
attorney general, at this juncture, conceived the idea of in- 
dicting the individual alluded to for an attempt to overturn 
the government. He obtained the approbation of the prin- 
cipal, and the grand jury found a bill. The court, as the 



GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS. Gl 

case was so important, invited some of the trustees, who 
were in town, to attend the trial. The parent of the defend- 
ant was also informed of the circumstances and requested to 
be present, and he accordingly attended. The prisoner was 
tried, found guilty, and sentenced, if I mistake not, to expul- 
sion. At his earnest request, however, to be permitted to 
remain in the Lvceum and redeem his character, he was par- 
doned and restored, and from that time he became perfectly 
exemplary in his conduct and character. After this occur- 
rence the system went on in successful operation for some 
time. 

The legislative power was vested in the hands of a general 
committee, consisting of eight or ten, chosen by the students 
from their own number. They met about once a week to 
transact such business as appointing officers, making and re- 
pealing regulations, and inquiring into the state of the Ly- 
ceum. The instructors had a negative upon all their pro- 
ceedings, but no direct and positive power. They could par- 
don, but they could assign no punishments, nor make laws 
inflicting any. 

Now such a plan as this may succeed for a short time, and 
under very favorable circumstances ; and the circumstance 
which it is chiefly important should be favorable is, that the 
man who is called to preside over such an association should 
possess such talents of generalship that he can really manage 
the institution himself, while the power is nominally and ap- 
parently in the hands of the boys. Should this not be the 
case, or should the teacher, from any cause, lose his personal 
influence in the school, so that the institution should really 
be surrendered into the hands of the pupils, things must be 
on a very unstable footing. And, accordingly, where such 
a plan has been adopted, it has, I believe, in every instance, 
been ultimately abandoned. 

Real self-rjorernment is an experiment sufficiently hazard- 
ous among men, though Providence, in making a daily sup- 



♦ ;•> THE TEACHER. 

ply of food necessary for every human being, has imposed a 
most powerful check upon the tendency to anarchy and con- 
fusion. Let the populace of Paris or of London materially 
interrupt the order and break in upon the arrangements 
of the community, and in eight-and-forty hours nearly the 
whole of the mighty mass will be in the hands of the de- 
vourer, hunger, and they will be soon brought to submission. 
On the other hand, a month's anarchy and confusion in a col- 
lege or an academy would be delight to half the students, or 
else times have greatly changed since I was within college 
walls. 

Although it is thus evident that the important concerns 
of a literary institution can not be safely committed into the 
hands of the students, very great benefits will result from 
calling upon them to act upon and to decide questions rela- 
tive to the school within such limits and under such restric- 
tions as are safe and proper. Such a practice will assist the 
teacher very much if he manages it with any degree of dex- 
terity ; for it will interest his pupils in the success of the 
school, and secure, to a very considerable extent, their co- 
operation in the government of it. It will teach them self- 
control and self-government, and will accustom them to sub- 
mit to the majority — that lesson M^hich, of all others, it is 
important for a republican to learn. 

In endeavoring to interest the pupils of a school in the 
work of co-operating with the teacher in its administration, 
no little dexterity will be necessary at the outset. In all 
probability, the formal announcement of this principle, and 
the endeavor to introduce it by a sudden revolution, would 
totally fail. Boys, like men, must be gradually prepared for 
power, and they must exercise it only so far as they are pre- 
pared. This, however, can very easily be done. The teach- 
er should say nothing of his general design, but, when some 
suitable opportunity presents, he should endeavor to lead his 
pupils to co-operate with him in some particular instance. 



GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS. (33 

For example, let us suppose that he has been accustomed 
to distribute the writing-books with his own hand when the 
writing-hour arrives, and that he concludes to delegate this 
simple business first to his scholars. He accordingly states 
to them, just before the writing exercise of the day on which 
he proposes the experiment, as follows : 

" I have thought that time will be saved if you will help 
me distribute the books, and I will accordingly appoint four 
distributors, one for each division of the seats, who may come 
to me and receive the books, and distribute them each to his 
own division. Are you willing to adopt this plan ?" 

The boys answer "Yes, sir," and the teacher then looks 
carefully around the room, and selects four pleasant and pop- 
ular boys — boys who he knows would gladly assist him, and 
who would, at the same time, be agreeable to their school- 
mates. This latter point is necessary in order to secure the 
popularity and success of the plan. 

Unless the boys are very different from any I have ever 
met with, they will be pleased Avith the duty thus assigned 
them. They will learn system and regularity by being taught 
to perform this simple duty in a proper manner. After a 
week, the teacher may consider their term of service as hav- 
ing expired, and thanking them in public for the assistance 
they have rendered him, he may ask the scholars if they are 
willing to continue the plan, and if the vote is in favor of it, 
as it unquestionably would be, each boy probably hoping that 
he should be appointed to the office, the teacher may nomi- 
nate four others, including, perhaps, upon the list, some boy 
popular among his companions, but whom he has suspected 
to be not very friendly to himself or the school. I think the 
most scrupulous statesman would not object to securing in- 
fluence by conferring office in such a case. If difficulties arise 
from the operation of such a measure, the plan can easily be 
modified to avoid or correct them. If it is successful, it may 
be continued, and the principle may be extended, so as in the 



64 THE TEACHER. 

end to affect very considerably all the arrangements and the 
whole management of the school. 

Or, let us imagine the following scene to have been the 
commencement of the introduction of the principle of limited 
self-government into a school. 

The preceptor of an academy was sitting at his desk, at the 
close of school, while the pupils were putting up their books 
and leaving the room. A boy came in with angry looks, and, 
with his hat in his hands bruised and dusty, advanced to the 
master's desk, and complained that one of his companions 
had thrown down his hat upon the floor, and had almost 
spoiled it. 

The teacher looked calmly at the mischief, and then asked 
how it happened. 

"I don't know, sir. I hung it on my nail, and he pulled 
it down." 

"I wish you would ask him to come here," said the teach- 
er. " Ask him pleasantly." 

The accused soon came in, and the two boys stood togeth- 
er before the master. 

^' There seems to be some difficulty between you boys about 
a nail to hang your hats upon. I suppose each of you think 
it is your own nail." 

" Yes, sir," said both the boys. 

" It will be more convenient for me to talk with you about 
this to-morrow than to-night, if you are willing to wait. Be- 
sides, w^e can examine it more calmly then. But if we put 
it off till then, you must not talk about it in the mean time, 
blaming one another, and keejjing up the irritation that you 
feel. Are you both willing to leave it just Avhere it is till to- 
morrow, and try to forget all about it till then ? I expect I 
shall find you both a little to blame." 

The boys rather reluctantly consented. The next day the 
master heard the case, and settled it so far as it related to 
the two boys. It was easily settled in the morning, for they 



GENERAL ARRANGE3IENTS. (35 

had had time to get calm, and were, after sleeping awaj their 
anger, rather ashamed of the whole affair, and very desirous 
to have it forgotten. 

That day, when the hour for the transaction of general 
business came, the teacher stated to the school that it was 
necessary to take some measures to provide each boy with a 
nail for his hat. In order to show that it was necessary, he 
related the circumstances of the quarrel which had occurred 
the day before. He did this, not with such an air and man- 
ner as to convey the impression that his object was to find 
fault with the boys, or to expose their misconduct, but to show 
the necessity of doing something to remedy the evil which 
had been the cause of so unpleasant an occurrence. Still, 
though he said nothing in the way of reproof or reprehen- 
sion, and did not name the boys, but merely gave a cool and 
impartial narrative of the facts, the effect, very evidently, was 
to bring such quarrels into discredit. A calm review of mis- 
conduct, after the excitement has gone by, will do more to 
bring it into disgrace than the most violent invectives and 
reproaches directed against the individuals guilty of it at the 
time. 

''Now, boys," continued the master, "will you assist me 
in making arrangements to prevent the recurrence of all 
temptations of this kind hereafter? It is plain that every 
boy ought to have a nail appropriated expressly to his use. 
The first thing to be done is to ascertain whether there are 
enough for all. I should like, therefore, to have two com- 
mittees appointed : one to count and report the number of 
nails in the entry, and also how much room there is for more ; 
the other to ascertain the number of scholars in school. They 
can count all who are here, and, by observing the vacant 
desks, they can ascertain the number absent. When this in- 
vestigation is made, I will tell you what to do next." 

The boys seemed pleased with the plan, and the commit- 
tees were appointed, two members on each. The master 



G6 THE TEACHER. 

took care to give the quarrelers some share in the work, ap- 
})arently forgetting, from this time, the unpleasant occurrence 
which had brought up the subject. 

When the boys came to inform him of the result of their 
inquiries, he asked them to make a little memorandum of it 
in writing, as he might forget the numbers, he said, before 
the time came for reading them. The boys brought him, 
presently, a rough scrap of paper, with the figures marked 
upon it. He told them he should forget which was the num- 
ber of nails, and which the number of scholars, unless they 
wrote it down. 

"It is the custom among men," said he, "to make out 
their report, in such a case, fully, so that it would explain 
itself; and I should like to have you, if you are willing, 
make out yours a little more distinctly." 

Accordingly, after a little additional explanation, the boys 
made another attempt, and presently returned with something 
like the following : 

"The committee for counting the nails report as follows: 

Number of nails . . .35 

Room for more 15." 

The other report was very similar, though somewhat rude- 
ly written and expressed, and both were perfectly satisfactory 
to the preceptor, as he plainly showed by the manner in which 
he received them. 

I need not finish the description of this case by narrating 
particularly the reading of the reports, the appointment of a 
committee to assign the nails, and to paste up the names of 
the scholars, one to each. The work, in such a case, might 
be done in recesses, and out of school hours ; and though, at 
first, the teacher will find that it is as much trouble to ac- 
complish business in this way as it would be to attend to it 
directly himself, yet, after a very little experience, he will 
ilnd that his pupils will acquire dexterity and readiness, and 



GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS. o7 

will be able to render him very material assistance in the ac- 
complishment of his plans. 

This, however — the assistance rendered to the teacher — is 
not the main object of the adoption of such measures as this. 
The main design is to interest the pupils in the management 
and the welfare of the school — to identify them, as it were, 
with it. And such measures as the above will accomplish 
this object ; and every teacher who will try the experiment, 
and carry it into effect with any tolerable degree of skill, will 
find that it will, in a short time, change the whole aspect of 
the school in regard to the feelings subsisting between him- 
self and his pupils. 

Each teacher who tries such an experiment will find him- 
self insensibly repeating it, and after a time he may have quite 
a number of officers and committees who are intrusted with 
various departments of business. He will have a secretary, 
chosen by ballot by the scholars, to keep a record of all the 
important transactions in the school for each day. At first 
he will dictate to the secretary, thus directing him precisely 
what to say, or even writing it for him, and then merely re- 
quiring him to copy it into the book provided for the pur- 
pose. Aftenvard he will give the pupil less and less assist- 
ance, till he can keep the record properly himself. The rec- 
ord of each day will be read on the succeeding day at the 
hour for business. The teacher will perhaps have a com- 
mittee to take care of the fire, and another to see that the 
room is constantly in good order. He will have distributors 
for each division of seats, to distribute books, and composi- 
tions, and pens, and to collect votes. And thus, in a short 
time, his school will become regularly organized as a society or 
legislative assembly. The boys Mali learn submission to the 
majority in such unimportant things as may be committed 
to them; they will learn system and regularity, and every 
thing else, indeed, that belongs to the science of political self- 
jiovernment. 



68 THE TEACHER. 

There are dangers, however. A\^iat useful practice has not 
its dangers? One of these is, that the teacher will allow 
these arrangements to take up too much time. He must 
guard against this. I have found from experience that fif- 
teen minutes each day, with a school of 135, is enough. 
This ought never to be exceeded. 

Another danger is, that the boys will be so engaged in the 
duties of their offices as to neglect their studies. This would 
be, and ought to be, fatal to the whole plan. This danger 
may be avoided in the following manner. State publicly that 
you will not appoint any to office who are not good schol- 
ars, always punctual, and always prepared ; and when any 
boy who holds an office is going behindhand in his studies, 
say to him kindly, " You have not time to get your lessons, 
and I am afraid it is owing to the fact that you spend so much 
time in helping me. Now if you wish to resign your office, 
so as to have more time for your lessons, you can. In fact, 
I think you ought to do it. You may try it for a day or two, 
and I will notice how you recite, and then we can decide." 

Such a communication will generally be found to have a 
powerful effisct. If it does not remedy the evil, the resigna- 
tion must be insisted on. A few decided cases of this kind 
will effectually remove the evil I am considering. 

Another difficulty which is likely to attend the plan of al- 
lowing the pupils of a school to take some part in this way 
in the administration of it is that it may tend to make them 
insubordinate, so that they will, in many instances, submit 
with less good humor to such decisions as you may consider 
necessary. I do not mean that this will be the case with 
all, but that there will be a few who Avill be ungenerous 
enough, if you allow them to decide sometimes what shall 
be done, to endeavor to make trouble, or at least to show 
symptoms of impatience and vexation because you do not 
allow them always to decide. 



GENEKAL AEKAJS'GEMENTS. (39 

Sometimes this feeling may show itself by the discontent- 
ed looks, or gestures, or even words with which some unwel- 
come regulation or order on the part of the teacher will be 
received. Such a spirit should be immediately and decided- 
ly checked whenever it appears. It will not be difficult to 
check, and even entirely to remove it. On one occasion 
when, after learning the wish of the scholars on some sub- 
ject which had been brought before them, I decided contrary 
to it, there arose a murmur of discontent all over the room. 
This was the more distinct, because I have always accustom- 
ed my pupils to answer questions asked, and to express their 
wishes and feelings on any subject I may present to them 
with great freedom. 

I asked all those who had expressed their dissatisfaction 
to rise. 

About one third of the scholars arose. 

" Perhaps you understood that when I put the question to 
vote I meant to abide by your decision, and that, consequent- 
ly, I ought not to have reversed it, as I did afterward ?" 

"Yes, sir," "Yes, sir," they replied. 

" Do you suppose it would be safe to leave the decision of 
important questions to the scholars in this school^" 

"Yes, sir;" "No, sir." The majority were, however, in 
the affirmative. 

Thus far, only those who were standing had answered. I 
told them that, as they were divided in opinion, they might 
sit, and I would put the question to the whole school. 

"You know," I continued, addressing the whole, "what 
sort of persons the girls who compose this school are. You 
know about how many are governed habitually by steady 
principle, and how many by impulse and feeling. You know, 
too, what proportion have judgment and foresight necessar}^ 
to consider and decide independently such questions as con- 
tinually arise in the management of a school. Now suppose 
I should resign the school into your own hands as to its 



70 THE TEACHEK. 

management, and only come in to give instruction to the 
classes, leaving all general control of its arrangements with 
you, would it go on safely or not^" 

As might have been foreseen, there was, when the ques- 
tion was fairly proposed, scarcely a solitary vote in favor of 
government by scholars. They seemed to see clearly the ab- 
surdity of such a scheme. 

" Besides," I continued, " the trustees of this school have 
committed it to my charge ; they hold me responsible ; the 
public hold me responsible, not you. Now if I should sur- 
render it into your hands, and you, from any cause, should 
manage the trust unfaithfully or unskillfully, I should neces- 
sarily be held accountable. I could never shift the responsi- 
bility upon you. Now it plainly is not just or right that one 
party should hold the power, and another be held accounta- 
ble for its exercise. It is clear, therefore, in every view of 
the subject, that I should retain the management of this school 
in my own hands. Are you not satisfied that it isf 

The scholars universally answered " Yes, sir." They seem- 
ed satisfied, and doubtless were. 

It was then stated to them that the object in asking them 
to vote was, in some cases, to obtain an expression of their 
opinion or their wishes in order to help me decide, and only 
in those cases where it was expressly stated did I mean to 
give the final decision to them. 

Still, however, if cases are often referred to them, the feel- 
ing will gradually creep in that the school is managed on re- 
publican principles, as they call it, and they will, unless 
this point is specially guarded, gradually lose that spirit of 
entire and cordial subordination so necessary for the success 
of any school. It should often be distinctly explained to 
them that a republican government is one where the power 
essentially resides in the community, and is exercised by a 
ruler only so far as the community delegates it to him, 
whereas in the school the government is based on the prin- 



GENERAL ARRANGEMENTS. 71 

ciple that the power, primarily and essentially, resides in the 
teacher, the scholars exercising only such as he may delegate 
to them. 

With these limitations and restrictions, and with this ex- 
press understanding in regard to what is, in all cases, the ul- 
timate authority, I think there will be no danger in throw- 
ing a very large share of the business which will, from time 
to time, come up in the school, upon the scholars themselves 
for decision. In my otnii experience this plan has been adopt- 
ed with the happiest results. Ih the Mount Vernon School a 
small red morocco wrapper lies constantly on a little shelf, 
accessible to all. By its side is a little pile of papers, about 
one inch by six, on which any one may write her motion, or 
her proposition^ as the scholars call it, whatever it may be, 
and when written it is inclosed in the wrapper, to be brought 
to me at the appointed time for attending to the general busi- 
ness of the school. Through this wrapper all questions are 
asked, all complaints entered, all proposals made. Is there 
discontent in the school? It shows itself by '•'• proposition^'' 
in the wrapper. Is any body aggrieved or injured % I learn 
it through the wrapper. In fact, it is a little safety-valve, 
which lets off what, if confined, might threaten explosion — 
an index — a thermometer, which reveals to me, from day to 
day, more of the state of public opinion in the little commu- 
nity than any thing beside. 

These propositions are generally read aloud. Some cases 
are referred to the scholars for decision ; some I decide my- 
self; others are laid aside without notice of any kind ; oth- 
ers still, merely suggest remarks on the subjects to which 
they allude. 

The principles, then, which this chapter has been intended 
to establish, are simply these : in making your general ar- 
rangements, look carefully over your ground, consider all the 
objects which you have to accomplish, and the proper degree 
of time and attention which each deserves. Then act upon 



72 THE TEACIIEK. 

system. Let the mass of particulars which would otherwise 
crowd upon you in promiscuous confusion be arranged and 
classified. Let each be assigned to its proper time and place, 
so that your time may be your own, under your own com- 
mand, and not, as is too often the case, at the mercy of the 
thousand accidental circumstances which may occur. 

Li a word, be, in the government of your school, yourself 
supreme, and let your supremacy be that of authority ; but 
delegate power, as freely as possible, to those under your 
care. Show them that you are desirous of reposing trust in 
them just so far as they show themselves capable of exercis- 
ino- it. Thus interest them in your plans, and make them 
feel that they participate in the honor or the disgrace of suc- 
cess or failure. 

I have gone much into detail in this chapter, proposing 
definite measures by which the principles I have recommend- 
ed may be carried into effect. I wish, however, that it may 
be distinctly understood that all I contend for is the princi- 
ples themselves, no matter what the particular measures ai'e 
by which they are secured. Every good school must be sys- 
tematic, but all need not be on precisely the same system. 
As this work is intended almost exclusively for beginners, 
much detail has been admitted, and many of the specific 
measures here proposed may perhaps be safely adopted where 
no others are established. There may also, perhaps, be cases 
where teachers, whose schools are already in successful oper- 
ation, may ingraft upon their own plans some things which 
are here proposed. If they should attempt it, it must be 
done cautiously and gradually. There is no other way by 
which they can be safely introduced, or even introduced at 
all. This is a point of so much importance, that I must de- 
vote a paragraph to it before closing the chapter. 

Let a teacher propose to his pupils, formally, from his 
desk, the plan of writing propositions, for example, as ex- 
plained above, and procure his wrapper, and put it in its 



GENERAL AKKANGEMENTS. 73 

place, and what would be the result ? Why, not a single pa- 
per, probably, could he get, from one end of the week to the 
other. But let him, on the other hand, when a boy comes 
to him to ask some question, the answer to which many in 
the school would equally wish to hear, say to the inquirer, 

" Will you be so good as to write that question, and put 
it on my desk, and then, at the regular time, I will answer 
it to all the school." 

When he reads it, let him state that it was written at his 
request, and give the other boys permission to leave their 
proposals or questions on his desk in the same way. In a 
few days he ^vill have another, and thus the plan may be 
gently and gradually introduced. 

So with officers. They should be appointed among the 
scholars only as fast as they are actually needed, and the plan 
should thus be cautiously carried only so far as it proves good 
on trial. Be always cautious about innovations and changes. 
Make no rash experiments on a large scale, but always test 
your principle in the small way, and then, if it proves good, 
gi-adually extend its operation as circumstances seem to re- 
quire. 

By thus cautiously and slowly introducing plans, founded 
on the systematic principles here brought to view, a very con- 
siderable degree of quiet, and order, and regularity may be 
introduced into the largest and most miscellaneous schools. 
And this order and quiet are absolutely necessary to enable 
the teacher to find that interest and enjoyment in his work 
which were exhibited in the last chapter ; the pleasure of di- 
recting and controlling mind, and doing it, not by useless and 
anxious complaints, or stern threats and painful punishments, 
but by regarding the scene of labor in its true light, as a com- 
munity of intellectual and moral beings, and governing it by 
moral and intellectual power. It is, in fact, the pleasure of 
exercising power. I do not mean arbitrary, personal author- 
ity, but the power to produce, by successful but quiet con- 

D 



74 THE TEACHER. 

trivancc, extensive and happy results; the pleasure of calm- 
ly considering every difficulty, and, without irritation or an- 
ger, devising the proper moral means to remedy the moral 
evil; and then the interest and pleasure of witnessing its 
effects. 



INSTRUCTION. 



75 



CHAPTEK ni. 



INSTRUCTION. 



E come now to consider the 
subject of Instruction. 

There are three kinds of 
human knowledge which 
stand strikingly distinct 
from all the rest. Thej he 
at the foundation. They 
constitute the roots of the 
tree. In other words, they 
are the means by which all 
other knowledge is attain- 
ed. I need not say that I 
mean Reading, Writing, and Calculation. 
Teachers do not perhaps always consider 
'^('■■■'■Jfl how entirely and essentially distinct these three 
I'V'V;!; branches of learning are from all the rest. They 
' .. are arts ; the acquisition of them is not to be con- 
sidered as knowledge, so much as the means by which knowl- 
edge may be obtained. A child who is studying Geography, 
or History, or Natural Science, is learning facts — gaining in- 
formation ; on the other hand, the one who is learning to 
write, or to read, or to calculate, may be adding little or noth- 
ing to his stock of knowledge. He is acquiring skill, which, 
at some future time, he may make the means of increasing 
his knowledge to any extent. 

This distinction ought to be kept constantly in view, and 
the teacher should feel that these three fundamental branches 
stand by themselves, and stand first in importance. I do not 




76 THE TEACHEK. 

mean to undervalue the others, but only to insist upon the 
superior value and importance of these. Teaching a pupil 
to read before he enters upon the active business of life is like 
giving a new settler an axe as he goes to seek his new home 
in the forest. Teaching him a lesson in history is, on the 
other hand, only cutting down a tree or two for him. A 
knowledge of natural history is like a few bushels of grain 
gratuitously placed in his barn ; but the art of ready reckon- 
ing is the plow which will remain by him for years, and help 
him to draw out from the soil a new treasure every year of 
his life. 

The great object, then, of the common schools in our coun- 
try is to teach the whole population to read, to write, and to 
calculate. In fact, so essential is it that the accomplishment 
of these objects should be secured, that it is even a question 
whether common schools should not be confined to them. I 
say it is a question, for it is sometimes made so, though public 
opinion has decided that some portion of attention, at least, 
should be paid to the acquisition of additional knowledge. 
But, after all, the amount of knowledge which is actually ac- 
quired at schools is very small. It must be very small. The 
true policy is to aim at making all the pupils good readers, 
writers, and calculators, and to consider the other studies of 
the school important chiefly as practice in turning these arts 
to useful account. In other words, the scholars should be 
taught these arts thoroughly first of all, and in the other 
studies the main design should be to show them how to use, 
and interest them in using, the arts they have thus acquired. 

A great many teachers feel a much stronger interest in the 
one or two scholars they may have in Surveying or in Latin 
than they do in the large classes in the elementary branches 
which fill the school. But a moment's reflection will show 
that such a preference is founded on a very mistaken view. 
Leading forward one or two minds from step to step in an 
advanced study is certainly far inferior in real dignity and 



INSTRUCTION. 77 

importance to opening all the stores of written knowledge to 
fifty or a hundred. The man who neglects the interests of 
his school in these great branches to devote his time to two 
or three, or half a dozen older scholars, is unjust both to his 
employers and to himself 

It is the duty, therefore, of every teacher who commences 
a common district school for a single season to make, when 
he commences, an estimate of the state of his pupils in refer- 
ence to these three branches. How do they all write ? How 
do they all read? How do they calculate? It would be 
well if he would make a careful examination of the school in 
this respect. Let them all write a specimen. Let all read, 
and let him make a memorandum of the manner, noticing 
how many read fluently, how many with difficulty, how many 
know only their letters, and how many are to be taught these. 
Let him ascertain, also, what progress they have made in 
arithmetic — how many can readily perform the elementary 
processes, and what number need instruction in these. After 
thus surveying the gi'ound, let him form his plan, and lay 
out his whole strength in carrying forward as rapidly as pos- 
sible the ivliole school in these studies. By this means he is 
acting most directly and powerfully on the intelligence of 
the whole future community in that place. He is opening 
to fifty or a hundred minds stores of knowledge which they 
will go on exploring for years to come. What a descent 
now from such a work as this to the mere hearing of the 
recitation of two or three boys in Trigonometry ! 

I repeat it, that a thorough and enlightened survey of the 
whole school should be taken, and plans formed for elevating 
the whole mass in those great branches of knowledge which 
are to be of immediate practical use to them in future life. 

If the school is one more advanced in respect to the age 
and studies of the pupils, the teacher should, in the same 
manner, before he forms his plans, consider well what are 
the great objects which he has to accomplish. He should 



78 THE TEACHEK. 

ascertain what is the existing state of his school both as to 
knowledge and character ; how long, generally, his pupils 
are to remain under his care; what are to be their future 
stations and conditions in life, and what objects he can rea- 
sonably hope to effect for them while they remain under his 
influence. By means of this forethought and consideration 
he will be enabled to work understandingly. 

It is desirable, too, that what I have recommended in ref- 
erence to the whole school should be done in respect to the 
case of each individual. When a ncAv pupil comes under 
your charge, ascertain (by other means, however, than for- 
mal examination) to w^hat stage his education has advanced, 
and deliberately consider what objects you can reasonably 
expect to effect for him w4iile he remains under your care. 
You can not, indeed, always form your plans to suit so ex- 
actly your general views in regard to the school and to indi- 
viduals as you could wish. But these general views will, in 
a thousand cases, modify your plans, or affect in a greater or 
less degree all your arrangements. They will keep you to a 
steady purpose, and your work will go on far more system- 
atically and regularly than it would do if, as in fact many 
teachers do, you were to come headlong into your school, 
take things just as you find them, and carry them forward 
at random without end or aim. 

This survey of your field being made, you are prepared to 
commence definite operations, and the great difficulty in car- 
rying your plans into effect is how to act more efficiently 
on the greatest numbers at a time. The whole business of pub- 
lic instruction, if it goes on at all, must go on by the teach- 
er's skill in multiplying his power, by acting on numhers at 
once. In most books on education we are taught, almost 
exclusively, how to operate on the wdividual. It is the er- 
ror into which theoretic writers almost always fall. We 
meet in every periodical, and in every treatise, and, in fact, 
in almost every conversation on the subject, 'with remarks 



INSTRUCTION. 79 

which sound very well by the fireside, but they are totally 
inefficient and useless in school, from their being apparently 
based upon the supposition that the teacher has but one pu- 
pil to attend to at a time. The great question in the man- 
agement of schools is not how you can take one scholar, and 
lead him forward most rapidly in a prescribed course, but 
how you can classify and arrange numbers, comprising every 
possible variety both as to knowledge and capacity, so as to 
carry them all forward effectually together. 

The extent to which a teacher may multiply his power by 
acting on numbers at a time is very great. In order to es- 
timate it, we must consider carefully what it is when carried 
to the greatest extent to which it is capable of being carried 
under the most favorable circumstances. Now it is possible 
for a teacher to speak so as to be easily heard by three hund- 
red persons, and three hundred pupils can be easily so seated 
as to see his illustrations or diagrams. Now suppose that 
three hundred pupils, all ignorant of the method of reducing 
fractions to a common denominator, and yet all old enough 
to learn, are collected in one room. Suppose they are all at- 
tentive and desirous of learning, it is very plain that the pro- 
cess may be explained to the whole at once, so that half an 
hour spent in that exercise would enable a very large propor- 
tion of them to understand the subject. So, if a teacher is 
explaining to a class in Grammar the difference between a 
noun and verb, the explanation would do as well for several 
hundred as for the dozen who constitute the class, if arrange- 
ments could only be made to have the hundreds hear it ; but 
there are, perhaps, only a hundred pupils in the school, and 
of these a large part understand already the point to be ex- 
plained, and another large part are too young to attend to it. 
I msh the object of these remarks not to be misunderstood. 
I do not recommend the attempt to teach on so extensive a 
scale ; I admit that it is impracticable ; I only mean to show 
in what the impracticability consists, namely, in the difficulty 



80 THE TEACHEK. 

of making such arrangements as to derive the full benefit 
from the instructions rendered. The instructions of the 
teacher are, in the nature of things, available to the extent I 
have represented, but in actual practice the full benefit can 
not be derived. Now, so far as we thus fall short of this full 
benefit, so far there is, of course, waste ; and it is difficult or 
impossible to make such arrangements as will avoid the waste, 
in this manner, of a lai'ge portion of every efibrt which the 
teacher makes. 

A very small class instructed by an able teacher is like a 
factory of a hundred spindles, with a water-wheel of power 
sufficient for a thousand. In such a case, even if the owner, 
from want of capital or any other cause, can not add the 
other nine hundred, he ought to know how much of his pow- 
er is in fact unemployed, and make arrangements to bring it 
into useful exercise as soon as he can. The teacher, in the 
same manner, should understand what is the full beneficial 
eflfect which it is possible, in theory, to derive from his in- 
structions. He should understand, too, that just so far as he 
falls short of this full effect there is waste. It may be una- 
voidable ; part of it unquestionably is, like the friction of ma- 
chinery, unavoidable. Still, it is waste ; and it ought to be 
so understood, that, by the gradual perfection of the machin- 
ery, it may be more and more fully prevented. 

Always bear in mind, then, when you are devoting your 
time to two or three indi\'iduals in a class, that your are los- 
ing a large part of your labor. Your instructions are condu- 
cive to good effect only to the one tenth or one twentieth of 
the extent to which, under more favorable circumstances, 
they might be made available. And though you can not al- 
ways avoid this loss, you ought to be aware of it, and so to 
shape your measures as to diminish it as much as possible. 

We come now to consider the particular measures to be 
adopted in giving instruction. 



INSTRUCTION. 81 

The objects which are to be secured in the management 
of the classes are twofold : 

1. Recitation. 

2. Instruction. 

These two objects are, it is plain, entirely distinct. Un- 
der the latter is included all the explanation, and assistance, 
and additional information which the teacher may give his 
pupils, and under the former, such an examination of indi- 
viduals as is necessary to secure their careful attention to 
their lessons. It is unsafe to neglect either of these points. 
If the class meetings are mere recitations, they soon become 
dull and mechanical ; the pupils generally take little interest 
in their studies, and imbibe no literary spirit. Their intel- 
lectual progress will, accordingly, suddenly cease the moment 
they leave school, and so cease to be called upon to recite 
lessons. On the other hand, if instruction is all that is aimed 
at, and recitation (by which I mean, as above explained, such 
an examination of individuals as is necessary to ascertain 
that they have faithfully performed the tasks assigned) is 
neglected, the exercise soon becomes not much more than a 
lecture, to which those, and those only, will attend who please. 

The business, therefore, of a thorough examination of the 
class must not be omitted. I do not mean that each indi- 
vidual scholar must every day be examined, but simply that 
the teacher must, in some way or other, satisfy himself by 
reasonable evidence that the whole class are really prepared. 
A great deal of ingenuity may be exercised in contriving 
means for effecting this object in the shortest possible time. 
I know of no part of the field of a teacher's labors which 
may be more facilitated by a little ingenuity than this. 

One teacher, for instance, has a spelling lesson to hear. 
He begins at the head of the line, and putting one word to 
each boy, goes regularly down, each successive pupil calcu- 
lating the chances whether a word which he can accident- 
ally spell will or will not come to him. If he spells it, the 

D2 



82 THE TEACHER. 

teacher can not tell whether he is prepared or not. That 
word is only one among fifty constituting the lesson. If he 
misses it, the teacher can not decide that he was unprepared. 
It might have been a single accidental error. 

Another teacher, hearing the same lesson, requests the boys 
to bring their slates, and, as he dictates the words one after 
another, requires all to write them. After they are all writ- 
ten, he calls upon the pupils to spell them aloud as they have 
written them, simultaneously, pausing a moment after each, 
to give those who are wrong an opportunity to indicate it by 
some mark opposite the word misspelled. They aU count the 
number of errors and report them. He passes down the 
class, glancing his eye at the work of each one to see that 
all is right, noticing particularly those slates which, from the 
character of the boys, need a more careful inspection. A 
teacher who had never tried this experiment would be sur- 
prised at the rapidity with which such work will be per- 
formed by a class after a little practice. 

Now how different are these two methods in their actual 
results ! In the latter case the whole class are thoroughly 
examined. In the former not a single member of it is. Let 
me not be understood to recommend exactly this method of 
teaching spelHng as the best one to be adopted in all cases. 
I only bring it forward as an illustration of the idea that a 
little machinery, a little ingenuity in contriving ways of act- 
ing on the whole rather than on individuals, will very much 
promote the teacher's designs. 

In order to facilitate such plans, it is highly desirable that 
the classes should be trained to miHtary precision and exact- 
ness in these manipulations. What I mean by this may per- 
haps be best illustrated by describing a case : it will show, in 
another branch, how much will be gained by acting upon 
numbers at once instead of upon each individual in succession. 

Imagine, then, that a teacher requested all the pupils of 
his school who could write to take out their slates at the 



INSTRUCTION. 83 - 

hour for a general exercise. As soon as the first bustle of 
opening and sliutting the desks was over, he looked around 
the room, and saw some ruling lines across their slates, oth- 
ers wiping them all over on both sides with sponges, others 
scribbling, or writing, or making figures. 

'' All those," says he, speaking, however, -with a pleasant 
tone and with a pleasant look, "who have taken out any- 
thing besides slates, may rise." 

Several, in various parts of the room, stood up. 

"All those who have written any thing since they took 
out then- slates may rise too, and those who have wiped their 
slates." 

When all were up, he said to them, though not with a 
frown or a scowl, as if they had committed a great oflfense, 

" Suppose a company of soldiers should be ordered to form 
a line, and instead of simply obeying that order they should 
all set at work, each in his own way, doing something else. 
One man at one end of the hne begins to load and fire his 
gun ; another takes out his knapsack and begins to eat his 
luncheon ; a third amuses himself by going as fast as possi- 
ble through the exercise ; and another still, begins to march 
about hither and thither, facing to the right and left, and 
performing all the evolutions he can think of. What should 
you say to such a company as that "?" 

The boys laughed. 

"It is better," said the teacher, " when numbers are act- 
ing under the direction of one, that they should all act exactly 
together. In this way we advance much faster than we other- 
wise should. Be careful, therefore, to do exactly what I com- 
mand, and nothing more. 

" Provide a place on your slates large enough to lurite a single 
line,'' added -the teacher, in a distinct voice. I print his or- 
ders in Italics, and his remarks and explanations in Roman 
letters. 

^'■Prepare to write. 



84 THE TEACHER. 

"I mean by this," he continued, ''that you place your 
slates before you with your pencils at the place where you 
are to begin, so that all may commence precisely at the same 
instant." 

The teacher who tries such an experiment as this will find 
at such a juncture an expression of fixed and pleasant atten- 
tion upon every countenance in school. All will be intent, 
all will be interested. Boys love order, and system, and act- 
ing in concert, and they will obey with great alacrity such 
commands as these if they are good-humoredly, though de- 
cidedly expressed. 

The teacher observed in one part of the room a hand raised, 
indicating that the boy wished to speak to him. He gave 
him liberty by pronouncing his name. 

"I have no pencil," said the boy. 

A dozen hands all around him were immediately seen fum- 
bling in pockets and desks, and in a few minutes several pen- 
cils were reached out for his acceptance. 

The boy looked at the pencils and then at the teacher ; he 
did not exactly know whether he was to take one or not. 

"All those boys," said the teacher, pleasantly, "who have 
- taken out pencils, may rise. 

" Have these boys done right or wrong 1" 

" Right ;" " Wrong ;" " Right," answered their compan- 
ions, variously. 

" Their motive was to help their class-mate out of his dif- 
ficulties ; that is a good feeling, certainly." 

" Yes, sir, right ;" " Right." 

" But I thought you promised me a moment ago," replied 
the teacher, "not to do any thing unless I commanded it. 
Did I ask for pencils f 

A pause. 

" I do not blame these boys at all in this case ; still, it is 
better to adhere rigidly to the principle of exact obedience 
when numbers are acting together. I thank them, therefore. 



INSTRUCTION. 85 

for being so ready to assist a companion, but they must put 
their pencils away, as they were taken out without orders." 

Now such a dialogue as this, if the teacher speaks in a 
good-humored, though decided manner, would be universally 
well received in any school. Whenever strictness of disci- 
pline is unpopular, it is rendered so simply by the ill-humor- 
ed and ill-judged means by which it is attempted to be intro- 
duced. But all children will love strict discipline if it is 
pleasantly, though firmly maintained. It is a great, though 
very prevalent mistake, to imagine that boys and girls like a 
lax and inethcient government, and dislike the pressure of 
steady control. What they dislike is sour looks and irritat- 
ing language, and they therefore very naturally dislike every 
thing introduced or sustained by means of them. If, how- 
ever, exactness and precision in all the operations of a class 
and of the school are introduced and enforced in the proper 
manner, that is, by a firm, but mild and good-humored au- 
thority, scholars will universally be pleased wdth them. They 
like to see the uniform appearance, the straight line, the si- 
multaneous movement. They like to feel the operation of sys- 
tem, and to realize, while they are at the school-room, that 
they form a communit}^, governed by fixed and steady laws, 
firmly but kindly administered. On the other hand, laxity 
of discipline, and the disorder which will result from it, vrill 
only lead the pupils to contemn their teacher and to hate 
their school. 

By introducing and maintaining such a discipline as I have 
described, great facilities will be secured for examining the 
classes. For example, to take a case different from the one 
before described, let us suppose that a class have been per- 
forming a number of examples in Addition. They come to- 
gether to the recitation, and, under one mode of managing 
classes, the teacher is immediately beset by a number of the 
pupils with excuses. One had no slate ; another was absent 
when the lesson was assiirned ; a third performed the work. 



86 THE TEACHER. 

but it got rubbed out, and a fourth did not know what was 
to be done. The teacher stops to hear all these, and to talk 
about them, fretting himself, and fretting the delinquents 
by his impatient remarks. The rest of the class are waiting, 
and, having nothing good to do, the temptation is almost ir- 
resistible to do something bad. One boy is drawing pictures 
on his ^late to make his neighbors laugh, another is whisper- 
ing, and two more are at play. The disorder continues while 
the teacher goes round examining slate after slate, his whole 
attention being engrossed by each individual, as the pupils 
come to him successively, while the rest are left to them- 
selves, interrupted only by an occasional harsh, or even an- 
gry, but utterly useless rebuke from him. 

But, under another mode of managing classes and schools, 
a very different result would be produced. 

A boy approaches the teacher to render an excuse ; the 
teacher replies, addressing himself, however, to the whole 
class, " I shall give all an opportunity to oifer their excuses 
presently. No one must come till he is called." 

The class then regularly take their places in the recitation 
seats, the prepared and unprepared together. The following 
commands are given and obeyed promptly. They are spoken 
pleasantly, but still in the tone of command. 

" The class may rise. 

"All those that are not fully prepared with this lesson 
may sit." 

A number sit ; and others, doubtful whether they are pre- 
pared or not, or thinking that there is something peculiar in 
their cases, which they wish to state, raise their hands, or 
make any other signal which is customary to indicate a wish 
to speak. Such a signal ought always to be agreed upon, 
and understood in school. 

The teacher shakes his head, saying, " I will hear you 
presently. If there is, on any account whatever, any doubt 
whether you are prepared, you must sit. 



INSTKUCTION. 87 

" Those that are standing may read their answers to No. 1. 
Unit figure"?" 

Boys. "Five." 

Teacher. "Tens'?" 

B. "Six." 

T. "Hundreds?" 

B. "Seven." 

"While these numbers are thus reading, the teacher looks 
at the boys, and can easily see whether any are not reading 
their own answers, but only following the rest. If they have 
been trained to speak exactly together, his ear will also at 
once detect any erroneous answer which any one may give. 
He takes down the figures given by the majority on his owtli 
slate, and reads them aloud. 

"This is the answer obtained by the majority; it is un- 
doubtedly right. Those who have different answers may 
sit." 

These directions, if understood and obeyed, would divide 
the class evidently into two portions. Those standing have 
their work done, and done correctly, and those sitting have 
some excuse or error to be examined. A new lesson may 
now be assigned, and the first portion may be dismissed, 
which in a well-regulated school will be two thirds of the 
class. Their slates may be slightly examined as they pass 
by the teacher on their way to their seats to see that all is 
fair ; but it will be safe to take it for granted that a result 
in which a majority agree will be right. Truth is consistent 
with itself, but error, in such a case, never is. This the 
teacher can at any time show by comparing the answers 
that are "vsTong ; they will always be found, not only to dif- 
fer from the correct result, but to contradict each other. 

The teacher may now, if he pleases, after the majority of 
the class have gone, hear the reasons of those who were un- 
prepared, and look for the errors of those whose work was 
incorrect ; but it is better to spend as little time as possible 



88 THE TEACHER. 

in such a way. If a scholar is not prepared, it is not of much 
consequence whether it is because he forgot his book or mis- 
took the lesson ; or if it is ascertained that his answer is in- 
correct, it is ordinarily a mere waste of time to search for the 
particular error. 

" T have looked over my work, sir," says the boy, perhaps, 
"and I can not find where it is wrong." He means by it 
that he does not believe that it is wrong. 

" It is no matter if you can not," would be the proper re- 
ply, " since it certainly is wrong ; you have made a mistake 
in adding somewhere, but it is not worth while for me to 
spend two or three minutes apiece with all of you to ascer- 
tain where. Try to be careful next time." 

Indeed the teacher should understand and remember what 
many teachers are very prone to forget, namely, that the 
mere fact of finding an arithmetical error in a pupil's work 
on the slate, and pointing it out to him, has very little ef- 
fect in correcting the false habit in his mind from which it 
arose. 

The cases of those who are unprepared at a recitation 
ought by no means to be passed by unnoticed, although it 
would be unwise to spend much time in examining each in 
detail. 

"It is not of much consequence," the teacher might say, 
" whether you have good excuses or bad, so long as you are 
not prepared. In future life you will certainly be unsuccess- 
ful if you fail, no matter for what reason, to discharge the 
duties which devolve upon you. A carpenter, for instance, 
would certainly lose his custom if he should not perform his 
work faitlifuUy and in season. Excuses, no matter how rea- 
sonable, will do him little good. It is just so in respect to 
punctuality in time as well as in respect to j^erformance of 
duty. What we want is that every boy should be in his 
place at the proper moment ; not that he should be late, and 
have good excuses for it. When you come to be men, tardi- 




INSTRUCTION. 89 

ness will always be punished. Excuses will not help the 
^- ^ matter at all. Suppose, here- 

after, when you are about to 
take a journey, you reach the 
pier five minutes after the 
steamer has gone, what good 
will excuses do you"? There 
you are, left hopelessly behind, 
no matter if your excuses are 
^ .-- ^i»£i& \in ^ "» ^ ^^^g l^gg^ -j^ ^j^g world. So in 

^WP^ ' this school. I want good punc- 
tuality and good recitations, not good excuses. I hope ev- 
ery one will be prepared to-morrow." 

It is not probable, however, that every one would be pre- 
pared the next day in such a case, but by acting steadily 
on these principles the number of delinquencies would be so 
much diminished that the very few which should be left 
could easily be examined in detail, and the remedies applied. 

Simultaneous recitation, by which I mean the practice of 
addressing a question to all the class to be answered by all 
together, is a practice which has been for some years rapidly 
extending in our schools, and, if adopted with proper limits 
and restrictions, is attended with great advantage. The 
teacher must guard against some dangers, however, which 
will be likely to attend it. 

1. Some will answer very eagerly, instantly after the ques- 
tion is completed. They wish to show their superior readi- 
ness. Let the teacher mention this, expose kindly the motive 
which leads to it, and tell them it is as irregular to answer 
before the rest as after them. 

2. Some will defer their answers until they can catch those 
of their comrades for a guide. Let the teacher mention this 
fault, expose the motive which leads to it, and tell them that 
if they do not answer independently and at once, they had 
better not answer at all. 



90 THE TEACHER. 

3. Some mil not answer at all. The teacher can see by 
looking around the room who do not, for they can not coun- 
terfeit the proper motion of the lips with promptness and de- 
cision unless they know what the answer is to be. He ought 
occasionally to say to such a one, " I perceive you do not an- 
swer," and ask him questions individually. 

4. In some cases there is danger of confusion in the an- 
swers, from the fact that the question may be of such a na- 
ture that the answer is long, and may by different individuals 
be differently expressed. This evil must be guarded against 
by so shaping the question as to admit of a rej)ly in a single 
word. In reading large numbers, for example, each figure 
may be called for by itself, or they may be given one after 
another, the pupils keeping exact time. When it is desira- 
ble to ask a question to which the answer is necessarily long 
it may be addressed to an individual, or the whole class may 
write their replies, which may then be read in succession. 

In a great many cases where simultaneous answering is 
practiced, after a short time the evils above specified are al- 
lowed to grow, until at last some half a dozen bright mem- 
bers of a class answer for all, the rest dragging after them, 
echoing their replies, or ceasing to take any interest in an 
exercise which brings no personal and individual responsi- 
bility upon them. To prevent this, the teacher should ex- 
ercise double vigilance at such a time. He should often ad- 
dress questions to individuals alone, especially to those most 
likely to be inattentive and careless, and guard against the 
ingress of every abuse which might, without close vigilance, 
appear. 

"With these cautions, the method here alluded to will be 
found to be of very gi'eat advantage in many studies ; for 
example, all the arithmetical tables may be recited in this 
way ; words may be spelled, answers to sums given, columns 
of figures added, or numbers multiplied, and many questions 
in history, geography, and other miscellaneous studies an- 



INSTRUCTION. 91 

swered, especially the general questions asked for the purpose 
of a review. 

But, besides being useful as a mode of examination, this 
plan of answering questions simultaneously is a very impor- 
tant means of fixing in the mind any facts which the teacher 
may communicate to his pupils. If, for instance, he says 
some day to a class that Vasco de Gama was the discoverer 
of the passage round the Cape of Good Hope, and leaves it 
here, in a few days not one in twenty will recollect the name. 
But let him call upon them all to spell it simultaneously, and 
then to pronounce it distinctly three or four times in con- 
cert, and the word will be very strongly impressed upon their 
minds. The reflecting teacher will find a thousand cases in 
the instruction of his classes, and in his general exercises in 
the school, in which this principle will be of great utility. It 
is universal in its application. What we say we fix, by the 
very act of saying it, in the mind. Hence, reading aloud, 
though a slower, is a far more thorough method of acquiring 
knowledge than reading silently, and it is better, in almost 
all cases, whether in the family, or in Sabbath or common 
schools, when'general instructions are given, to have the lead- 
ing points fixed in the mind by questions answered simulta- 
neously. 

But we are wandering a little from our subject, which is, 
in this part of our chapter, the methods of examining a class, 
not of giving or fixing instructions. 

Another mode of examining classes, which it is important 
to describe, consists in requiring icritten answers to the ques- 
tions asked. The form and manner in which this plan may 
be adopted is various. The class may bring their slates to 
the recitation, and the teacher may propose questions suc- 
cessively, the answers to which all the class may write, num- 
bering them carefully. After a dozen answers are written, 
the teacher may call at random for them, or he may repeat 
a question, and ask each pupil to read the answer he had 



92 THE TEACHER. 

written, or he may examine the slates. Perhaps this methv. 
may be very successfully employed in reviews by dictating to 
the class a list of questions relating to the ground they have 
gone over for a week, and then instructing them to prepare 
answers written out at length, and to bring them in at the 
next exercise. This method may be made more formal still 
by requiring a class to write a full and regular abstract of 
all they have learned during a specified time. The practice 
of thus reducing to writing what has been learned will be 
attended with many advantages so obvious that they need 
not be described. 

It will be perceived that three methods of examining class- 
es have now been named, and these will afford the teacher 
the means of introducing a very great variety in his mode of 
conducting his recitations, while he still carries his class for- 
ward steadily in their prescribed course. Each is attended 
with its peculiar advantages. The single replies, coming from 
individuals specially addressed, are more rigid, and more to 
be relied upon, but they consume a great deal of time, and, 
while one is questioned, it requires much skill to keep up in- 
terest in the rest. The simultaneous ansivers of a class awaken 
more general interest, but it is difficult, without special care, 
to secure by this means a special examination of all. The 
written replies are more thorough, but they require more time 
and attention, and while they habituate the pupil to express 
himself in writing, they would, if exclusively adopted, fail to 
accustom him to an equally important practice, that of the 
oral communication of his thoughts. A constant variety, of 
which these three methods should be the elements, is unques- 
tionably the best mode. We not only, by this means, secure 
in a great degree the advantages which each is fitted to pro- 
duce, but we gain also the additional advantage and interest 
of variety. 

By these, and perhaps by other means, it is the duty of 
the teacher to satisfy himself that his pupils are really atten- 



INSTRUCTION. 93 

MB to their duties. It is not perhaps necessary that every 

I individual should be every day minutely examined ; this is, 

I in many cases, impossible ; but the system of examination 

should be so framed and so administered as to be daily felt 

by all, and to bring upon every one a daily responsibility. 

We come now to consider the second general head which 
was to be discussed in this chapter. 

The study of books alone is insufficient to give knowledge 
to the young. In the first stage, learning to read a book is 
of no use whatever without the voice of the living teacher. 
The child can not take a step alone. As the pupil, however, 
advances in his course, his dependence upon his teacher for 
guidance and help continually diminishes, until at last the 
scholar sits in his solitary study, with no companion but his 
books, and desiring, for a solution of eveiy difficulty, nothing 
but a larger library. In schools, however, the pupils have 
made so Uttle progress in this course, that they all need more 
or less of the oral assistance of a teacher. Difficulties must 
be explained ; questions must be answered ; the path must be 
smoothed, and the way pointed out by a guide who has trav- 
eled it before, or it will be impossible for the pupil to go on. 
This is the part of our subject which we now approach. 

The great principle which is to guide the teacher in this 
part of his duty is this : Assist your pupils in such a way as to 
lead them, as soon as possible, to do ivithout assistance. This is 
fundamental. In a short time they vn.l\ be away from your 
reach ; they will have no teacher to consult ; and unless you 
teach them how to understand books themselves, they must 
necessarily stop suddenly in their course the moment you 
cease to help them forward. I shall proceed, therefore, to 
consider the subject in the following plan : 

1. Means of exciting interest in study. 

2. The kind and degree of assistance to be rendered. 

3. Miscellaneous suggestions. 



94 THE TEACHER. 

1. Interesting the pupils in their studies. There are va- 
rious principles of human nature which maybe of great avail 
in accompHshing this object. Making intellectual effort and 
acquiring knowledge are always pleasant to the human mind, 
unless some peculiar circumstances render them otherwise. 
The teacher has, therefore, only to remove obstructions and 
sources of pain, and the employment of his pupils will be of 
itself a pleasure. 

" I am going to give you a new exercise to-day," said a 
teacher to a class of boys in Latin. "I am going to have 
you parse your whole lesson in writing. It will be difficult, 
but I think you may be able to accomplish it." 

The class looked surprised. They did not know what^ars- 
ing in writing could be. 

" You may first, when you take your seats, and are ready 
to prepare the lesson, write upon your slates a list of the ten 
first nouns that you find in the lesson, arranging them in a 
column. Do you understand so far f 

"Yes, sir." 

" Then rule lines for another column, just beyond this. In 
parsing nouns, what is the first particular to be named ?" 

" What the noun is from." 

" Yes ; that is, its nominative. Now you may write, at 
the head of the first column, the word iVoMWS, and at the head 
of the second, Nom., for nominative. Then rule a line for 
the third column. What shall this contain?" "The de- 
clension." " Yes ; and the fourth f ' " Gender." " The 
fifth?" "Number." 

In the same manner the other columns were designated. 
The sixth was to contain case ; the seventh, the word with 
which the noun was connected in construction ; and the 
eighth, a reference to the rule. 

" Now I wish you," continued the teacher, " to fill up such 
a table as this with ten nouns. Do you understand how I 
mean ?" 



INSTRUCTION. 95 

" Yes, sir ;" " No, sir," they answered, variously. 

" All who do understand may take their seats, as I wdsh 
to give as little explanation as possible. The more you can 
depend upon yourselves, the better." 

Those who saw clearly what was to be done left the class, 
and the teacher continued his explanation to those who were 
left behind. He made the plan perfectly clear to them by 
taking a particular noun and running it through the table, 
showing what should be written opposite to the word in all 
the columns, and then dismissed them. 

The class separated, as every class would, in such a case, 
with a strong feeling of interest in the work before them. It 
was not so difficult as to perplex them, and yet it required 
attention and care. They were interested and pleased — 
pleased mth the effort which it required them to make, and 
they anticipated, with interest and pleasure, the time of com- 
ing again to the class to report and compare their work. 

When the time for the class came, the teacher addressed 
them somewhat as follows : 

^' Before looking at your slates, I am going to predict what 
the faults are. I have not seen any of your work, but shall 
judge altogether from my general knowledge of school-boys, 
and the difficulties I know they meet with. Do you think I 
shall succeed?" 

The scholars made no reply, and an unskillful teacher 
would imagine that time spent in such remarks would be 
wholly wasted. By no means. The influence of them was 
to awaken universal interest in the approaching examination 
of the slates. Every scholar would be intent, watching, with 
eager interest, to see whether the imagined faults would be 
found upon his work. The class was, by that single pleasant 
remark, put into the best possible state for receiving the crit- 
icisms of the teacher. 

" The first fault which I suppose will be found is that some 
are unfinished." 



96 THE TEACHEll. 

The scholars looked surprised. They did not expect to 
have that called a fault. 

"How many plead guilty to it?" 

A few raised their hands, and the teacher continued : 

" I suppose that some will be found partly effaced. The 
slates were not laid away carefully, or they were not clean, 
so that the writing is not distinct. How many find this the 
case with their work ? 

"I suppose that, in some cases, the lines will not be perpen- 
dicular, but will slant, probably toward the left, like writing. 

"I suppose, also, that, in some cases, the writing will be 
careless, so that I can not easily read it. How many plead 
guilty to this f ' 

After mentioning such other faults as occurred to him, 
relating chiefly to the form of the table, and the mere me- 
chanical execution of he work, he said, 

"I think I shall not look at your slates to-day. You can 
all see, I have no doubt, how you can considerably improve 
them in mechanical execution in your next lesson; and I 
suppose you would a little prefer that I should not see your 
first imperfect efforts. In fact, I should rather not see them. 
At the next recitation they probably will be much better." 

One important means by which the teacher may make his 
scholars careful of their reputation is to show them, thus, 
that he is careful of it himself. 

Now in such a case as this, for it is, except in the prin- 
ciples which it is intended to illustrate, imaginary, a very 
strong interest would be awakened in the class in the work 
assigned them. Intellectual effort in new and constantly 
varied modes is in itself a pleasure, and this pleasure the 
teacher may deepen and increase very easily by a little dex- 
terous management, designed to awaken curiosity and con- 
centrate attention. It ought, however, to be constantly borne 
in mind that this variety should be confined to the modes of 
pursuing an object — the object itself being permanent, and 



INSTKUCTION. 97 

constant, and steadily pursued. For instance, if a little class 
are to be taught simple addition, after the process is once ex- 
plained, which may be done, perhaps, in two or three lessons, 
they will need many days of patient practice to render it fa- 
miliar, to impress it firmly in their recollection, and to ena- 
ble them to work with rapidity. Now this object must be 
steadily pursued. It would be very unwise for the teacher 
to say to himself. My class are tired of addition ; I must car- 
ry them on to subtraction, or give them some other study. 
It would be equally unwise to keep them many days perform- 
ing example after example in monotonous succession, each 
lesson a mere repetition of the last. He must steadily pur- 
sue his object of familiarizing them fully with this element- 
ary process, but he may give variety and spirit to the work 
by changing occasionally the modes. One week he may dic- 
tate examples to them, and let them come together to com- 
pare their results, one of the class being appointed to keep 
a list of all wdio are correct each day. At another time 
each one may write an example, which he may read aloud 
to all the others, to be performed and brought in at the next 
time. Again, he may let them work on paper with pen and 
ink, that he may see how few mistakes they make, as mis- 
takes in ink can not be easily removed. He may excite in- 
terest by devising ingenious examples, such as finding out 
how much all the numbers from one to fifty will make when 
added together, or the amount of the ages of the whole class, 
or any such investigation, the result of which they might feel 
an interest in learning. Thus the object is steadily pursued, 
though the means of pursuing it are constantly changing. 
We have the advantage" of regular progress in the acquisition 
of knowledge truly valuable, while this progress is made with 
all the spirit and interest which variety can give. 

The necessity of making such efforts as this, however, to 
keep up the interest of the class in their work, and to make 
it pleasant to them, will depend altogether upon circum- 

E 



98 THE TEACHEK. 

stances; or, rather, it will vary much with circumstances. 
A class of pupils somewhat advanced in their studies, and 
understanding and feeling the value of knowledge, will need 
very little of such effort as this ; while young and giddy chil- 
dren, who have been accustomed to dislike books and school, 
and every thing connected with them, will need more. It 
ought, however, in all cases, to be made a means, not an 
end — the means to lead on a pupil to an interest in progress 
in hioidedge itself, which is, after all, the great motive which 
ought to be brought as soon and as extensively as possible to 
operate in the school-room. 

Another way to aw^aken interest in the studies of the school 
is to bring out, as frequently and as distinctly as possible, the 
connection between these studies and the practical business 
of life. The events which are occurring around you, and 
which interest the community in which you are placed, may, 
by a little ingenuity, be connected in a thousand ways with 
the studies of the school. If the practice, which has been 
already repeatedly recommended, of appropriating a quarter 
of an hour each day to a general exercise, should be adopted, 
it will afford great facilities for doing this. 

There is no branch of study attended to in school which 
may, by judicious efforts, be made more effectual in accom- 
plishing this object, leading the pupils to see the practical 
utility and the value of knowledge, than composition. If 
such subjects as are suitable themes for moral essays are as- 
signed, the scholars will indeed dislike the work of writing, 
and derive little benefit from it. The mass of pupils in our 
schools are not to be writers of moral essays or orations, and 
they do not need to form that style of empty, florid, verbose 
declamation which the practice of waiting composition in our 
schools, as it is too frequently managed, tends to form. As- 
sign practical subjects — subjects relating to the business of 
the school, or the events taking place around you. Is there 
a question before the community on the subject of the loca- 



INSTRUCTION. 99 

tion of a new school-house ? Assign it to your pupils as a 
question for discussion, and direct them not to write empty- 
declamation, but to obtain from their parents the real argu- 
ments in the case, and to present them distinctly and clearly, 
and in simple language, to their companions. Was a build- 
uig burned by lightning in the neighborhood ? Let those who 
saw the scene describe it, their productions to be read by the 
teacher aloud, and let them see that clear descriptions please, 
and that good legible writing can be read fluently, and that 
correct sj)elling, and punctuation, and grammar make the 
article go smoothly and pleasantly, and enable it to produce 
its full effect. Is the erection of a public building going for- 
ward in the neighborhood of your school? You can make 
it a very fruitful source of subjects and questions to give in- 
terest and impulse to the studies of the school-room. Your 
classes in geometry may measure, your arithmeticians may 
calculate and make estimates, your writers may describe its 
progress from week to week, and anticipate the scenes which 
it will in future years exhibit. 

By such means the practical bearings and relations of the 
studies of the school-room may be constantly kept in view ; 
but I ought to guard the teacher, while on this subject, most 
distinctly against the danger of making the school-room a 
scene of literary amusement instead of study. These means 
of awakening interest and relieving the tedium of the unin- 
terrupted and monotonous study of text-books must not en- 
croach on the regular duties of the school. They must be 
brought forward with judgment and moderation, and made 
subordinate and subservient to these regular duties. Their 
design is to give spirit and interest, and a feeling of practical 
utility to what the pupils are doing ; and if resorted to with 
these restrictions and within these limits, they will produce 
powerful, but safe results. 

Another way to excite interest, and that of the right kind, 
in school, is not to remove difficulties, but to teach the pupils 



100 THE TEACHER. 

Iiow to surmount them. A text-book so contrived as to make 
study mere play, and to dispense with thought and effort, is 
the worst text-book that can be made, and the surest to be, 
in the end, a dull one. The great source of literary enjoy- 
ment, which is the successful exercise of intellectual power, 
is, by such a mode of presenting a subject, cut off. Secure, 
therefore, severe study. Let the pupil see that you are aim- 
ing to secure it, and that the pleasure which you expect that 
they will receive is that of firmly and patiently encountering 
and overcoming difficulty ; of penetrating, by steady and per- 
severing effort, into regions from which the idle and the in- 
efficient are debarred, and that it is your province to lead 
them forward, not to carry them. They will soon under- 
stand this, and like it. 

Never underrate the difficulties which your pupils will have 
to encounter, or try to persuade them that what you assign 
is easy. Doing easy things is generally dull work, and it is 
especially discouraging and disheartening for a pupil to spend 
his strength in doing what is really difficult for him when 
his instructor, by calling his work easy, gives him no credit 
for what may have been severe and protracted labor. If a 
thing is really hard for the pupil, his teacher ought to know 
it and admit it. The child then feels that he has some sym- 
pathy. I 

It is astonishing how great an influence may be exerted 
over a child by his simply knowing that his efforts are ob- 
served and appreciated. You pass a boy in the street wheel- 
ing a heavy load in a barrow ; now simply stop to look at 
Mm, with a countenance which says, " That is a heavy load ; 
I should not think that boy could wheel it ;" and how quick 
will your look give fresh strength and vigor to his efforts. 
On the other hand, when, in such a case, the boy is faltering 
under his load, try the effect of telling him, " AMiy, that is 
not heavy ; you can wheel it easily enough ; trundle it along." 
The poor boy wnll drop his load, disheartened and discour- 



INSTRUCTION. 101 

aged, and sit down upon it in despair. It is so in respect to 
the action of the young in all cases. They are animated and 
incited by being told in the right ivay that they have some- 
thing difficult to do. A boy is performing some service for 
you. He is watering your horse, perhaps, at a well by the 
road-side as you are traveling. Say to him, " Hold up the 
pail high, so that tlie horse can drink ; it is not heavy." He 




will be discouraged, and will be ready to set the pail down. 
Say to him, on the other hand, " I had better dismount my- 
self. I don't think you can hold the pail up. It is very 
heavy ;" and his eye will brighten up at once. " Oh no, sir," 
he will reply, " I can hold it very easily." Hence, even if 
the work you are assigning to a class is easy, do not tell them 
so unless you wish to destroy all their spirit and interest in 
doing it ; and if you wish to excite their spirit and interest, 
make your work difficult, and let them see that you know it 
is so; not so difficult as to tax their powers too heavily, 
but enough so to require a vigorous and persevering effort. 
Let them distinctly understand, too, that you know it is dif- 
ficult, that you mean to make it so, but that they have your 
sympathy and encouragement in the effi^rts which it calls 
them to make. 

You may satisfy yourself that human nature is, in this re- 
spect, what I have described by some such experiment as the 



102 THE TEACHER. 

following. Select two classes not very familiar with element- 
ary arithmetic, and offer to each of them the following ex- 
ample in addition : 

12345G789 
234567891 
345678912 
etc., etc. 

The numbers may be continued, according to the obvious 
law regulating the above, until each one of the nine digits 
has commenced the line. Or, if you choose Multiplication, 
let the example be this : 

Multiply 123456789 
by 123456789 

Now, when you bring the example to one of the classes, 
addi-ess the pupils as follows : 

" I have contrived for you a very difficult sum. It is the 
most difficult one that can be made with the number of fig- 
ures contained in it, and I do not think that any of you can 
do it, but you may try. I shall not be surprised if every an- 
swer should contain mistakes." 

To the other class say as follows : 

'' I have prepared an example for you, which I wish you 
to be very careful to perform correctly. It is a little longer 
than those you have had heretofore, but it is to be performed 
upon the same principles, and you can all do it correctly, if 
you really try." 

Now under such circumstances the first class will go to 
their seats with ardor and alacrity, determined to show you 
that they can do work, even if it is difficult ; and if they suc- 
ceed, they come to the class the next day with pride and 
pleasure. They have accomplished something which you ad- 
mit it was not easy to accomplish. On the other hand, the 
second class will go to their seats with murmuring looks and 



INSTRUCTION. 103 

words, and with a hearty dishke of the task you have assign- 
ed them. Tliey know that they have something to do, which, 
however easy it may be to the teacher, is really difficult for 
them ; and they have to be perplexed and wearied with the 
work, without having, at last, even the little satisfaction of 
knowing that the teacher appreciates the difficulties with 
which they had to contend. 

2. We now come to consider the subject of rendering as- 
sistance to the pupil, which is one of the most important and 
delicate parts of a teacher's work. The great difference 
which exists among teachers in regard to the skill they pos- 
sess in this part of their duty, is so striking that it is very 
often noticed by others ; and perhaps skill here is of more 
avail in deciding the question of success or failure than any 
thing besides. The first great principle is, however, simple 
and effectual. 

(1.) Divide and subdivide a difficult process, until your steps arc 
so short that the jynjnl can easily take them. 

Most teachers forget the difference between the pupil's ca- 
pacity and their own, and they pass rapidly forward, through 
a difficult train of thought, in their own ordinary gait, their 
unfortunate followers vainly trying to keep up with them. 
The case is precisely analogous to that of the father, who 
walks with the step of a man, while his little son is by his 
side, wearying and exhausting himself with fruitless efforts 
to reach his feet as far, and to move them as rapidly as a 
full-grown man. 

But to show what I mean by subdividing a difficult pro- 
cess so as to make each step simple, I will take a case which 
may serve as an example. I will suppose that the teacher 
of a common school undertakes to show his boys, who, we 
will suppose, are acquainted with nothing but elementary 
arithmetic, how longitude is determined by means of the 
eclipses of Jupiter's satellites; not a very simple question, 
but still one which, like all others, may be, merely by the 



104 THE TEACHER. 

power of the subdivision alluded to, easily explained. I will 
suppose that the subject has come up at a general exercise ; 
perhaps the question was asked in writing by one of the older 
boys. I will present the explanation chiefly in the form of 
question and answer, that it may be seen that the steps are 
so short that the boys may take them themselves. 

" Which way," asks the teacher, " are the Rocky Mount- 
ains from us?" 

"West," answer two or three of the boys. 

In such cases as this, it is very desirable that the answers 
should be general, so that throughout the school there should 
be a spirited interest in the questions and replies. This will 
never be the case if a small number of the boys only take part 
in the answers, and many teachers complain that when they 
try this experiment they can seldom induce many of the pu- 
pils to take a part. 

The reason ordinarily is that they say that amj of the 
boys may answer instead of that all of them may. The 
boys do not get the idea that it is wished that a universal 
reply should come from all parts of the room, in which every 
one's voice should be heard. If the answers were feeble in 
the instance we are supposing, the teacher would perhaps 
say, 

"I only heard one or two answers; do not more of you 
know where the Rocky Mountains are? Will you all think 
and answer together ? Which way are they from us ?" 

"West," answer a large number of boys. 

" You do not answer fully enough yet ; I do not think 
more than forty answered, and there are about sixty here. 
I should like to have every one in the room answer, and all 
precisely together." 

He then repeats the question, and obtains a full response. 
A similar effort will always succeed. 

"Now does the sun, in going round the earth, pass over 
the Rocky Mountains, or over us, first?" 



INSTRUCTION. 105 

To this question the teacher hears a confused answer. 
Some do not reply; some say, "Over the liocky Mount- 
ains;" others, "Over us;" and others still, "The sun does 
not move at all." 

"It is true that the sun, strictly speaking, does not move; 
the earth turns round, presenting the various countries in 
succession to the sun, but the effect is precisely the same as 
it would be if the sun moved, and, accordingly, I use that 
language. Now how long does it take the sun to pass round 
the earth?" 

" Twenty-four hours." 

"Does he go toward the west or toward the east from 
us?" 

" Toward the west." 

But it is not necessary to give the replies ; the questions 
alone will be sufficient. The reader wall observe that they 
inevitably lead the pupil, by short and simple steps, to a clear 
understanding of the point to be explained. 

"Will the sun go toward or from the Rocky Mountains 
after leaving us ?" 

" How long did you say it takes the sun to go round the 
globe and come to us again ?" 

" How long to go half round ?" " Quarter round ?" 

" How long will it take him to go to the Rocky Mount- 
ains?" 

No answer. 

"You can not tell. It would depend upon the distance. 
Suppose, then, the Rocky Mountains were half round the 
globe, how long would it take the sun to go to them?" 
" Suppose they were quarter round ?" 

"The whole distance is divided into portions called de- 
grees — 3G0 in all. How many will the sun pass in going 
half round ?" " In going quarter round ?" 

"Ninety degrees, then, make one quarter of the circum- 
ference of the globe. This, you have already said, will take 

E2 



lOG THE TEACHER. 

six hours. In one hour, then, how many degrees will the 
sun -pass overT' 

Perhaps no answer. If so, the teacher will subdivide the 
question on the principle we are explaining, so as to make 
the steps such that the pupils can take them. 

" How many degrees will the sun pass over in three hours f 

" Forty-five." 

"How large a part of that, then, will he pass in one 
hour?" 

"One third of it." 

"And what is one third of forty-five f 

The boys would readily answer -fifteen, and the teacher 
would then dwell for a moment on the general truth thus de- 
duced, that the sun, in passing round the earth, passes over 
fifteen degrees every hour. 

" Suppose, then, it takes the sun one hour to go from us 
to the River Mississippi, how many degrees west of us would 
the river be f 

Having thus familiarized the pupils to the fact that the 
motion of the sun is a proper measure of the difference of 
longitude between two places, the teacher must dismiss the 
subject for a day, and when the next opportunity of bring- 
ing it forward occurs, he would, perhaps, take up the subject 
of the sun's motion as a measure oi time. 

" Is the sun ever exactly over our heads f 

"Is he ever exactly south of us ?" 

"When he is exactly south of us, or, in other words, ex- 
actly opposite to us in his course round the earth, he is said 
to be in our meridian ; for the word meridian means a line 
drawn exactly north or south from any place." 

There is no limit to the simplicity which may be impart- 
ed, even to the most difficult subjects, by subdividing the 
steps. This point, for instance, the meaning of meridian, 
may be the subject, if it were necessary, of many questions, 
which would render it simple to the youngest child. The 



INSTRUCTION. 107 

teacher may point to the various articles in the room, or 
buildings, or other objects without, and ask if they are or 
are not in his meridian. But to proceed : 

" AYhen the sun is exactly opposite to us, in the south, at 
the highest point to which he rises, what o'clock is it f 

" When the sun is exactly opposite to us, can he be oppo- 
site to the Eocky Mountains f 

" Does he get opposite to the Rocky Mountains before or 
after he is opposite to us?" 

"When he is opposite to the Rocky Mountains, what 
o'clock is it there ?" 

" Is it twelve o'clock here, then, before or after it is twelve 
o'clock there ?" 

" Suppose the River IVIississippi is fifteen degrees from us, 
how long is it twelve o'clock here before it is twelve o'clock 
there f ' 

" When it is twelve o'clock here, then, what time will it be 
there?" 

Some will probably answer ''one," and some "eleven." 
If so, the step is too long, and may be subdivided thus : 

"When it is noon here, is the sun going toward the Mis- 
sissippi, or has he passed it ?" 

"Then has noon gone by at that river, or has it not yet 
come?" 

" Then will it be one hour before or one hour after noon?" 

"Then will it be eleven or one?" 

Such minuteness and simplicity would, in ordinary cases, 
not be necessary. I go into it here merely to show hov/, by 
simply subdividing the steps, a subject ordinarily perplexing 
may be made plain. The reader will observe that in the 
above there are no explanations by the teacher — there are 
not even leading questions ; that is, there are no questions 
the form of which suggests the answers desired. The pupil 
goes on from step to step simply because he has but ore short 
step to take at a time. 



108 THE TEACHER. 

" Can it be noon, then," continues the teacher, " here and 
at a place fifteen degrees west of us at the same time f 

" Can it be noon here and at a place ten miles west of us 
at the same time f 

It is unnecessary to continue the illustration, for it will be 
very evident to every reader that, by going forward in this 
way, the whole subject may be laid out before the pupils so 
that they shall perfectly understand it. They can, by a series 
of questions like the above, be led to see, by their own rea- 
soning, that time, as denoted by the clock, must differ in every 
two places not upon the same meridian, and that the differ- 
ence must be exactly proportional to the difference of longi- 
tude. So that a watch which is right in one place can not, 
strictly speaking, be right in any other place east or west of 
the first ; and that, if the time of day at two places can be 
compared, either by taking a chronometer from one to an- 
other, or by observing some celestial phenomenon, like the 
eclipses of Jupiter's satellites, and ascertaining precisely the 
time of their occurrence, according to the reckoning at both, 
the distance east or west by degrees may be determined. The 
reader will observe, too, that the method by which this ex- 
planation is made is strictly in accordance with the principle 
I am illustrating, which is by simply dividing the jjrocess into 
slioj't steps. There is no ingenious reasoning on the part of 
the teacher, no happy illustrations, no apparatus, no dia- 
grams. It is a pure process of mathematical reasoning, made 
clear and easy by simi^le ancdysis. 

In applying this method, however, the teacher should be 
very careful not to subdivide too much. It is best that the 
pupils should walk as fast as they can. The object of the 
teacher should be to smooth the path not much more than 
barely enough to enable the pupil to go on. He should not 
endeavor to make it very easy. 

(2.) Truths must not only be taught to the pupils, but 
they must he fixed, and made familiar. This is a point which 
seems to be very generally overlooked. 



INSTRUCTION, 109 

" Can you say the Multiplication Table?" said a teacher 
to a boy who was standing before him in his class. 

"Yes, sir." 

" Well, I should like to have you say the line beginning- 
nine times one." 

The boy repeated it slowly, but correctly. 

" Now I should like to have you try again, and I "will, at 
the same time, say another line, to see if I can put you out." 

The boy looked surprised. The idea of his teacher's try- 
ing to perplex and embarrass him was entirely new. 

"You must not be afraid," said the teacher. "You will 
undoubtedly not succeed in getting through, but you will not 
be to blame for the failure. I only try it as a sort of intel- 
lectual experiment." 

The boy accordingly began again, but was soon complete- 
ly confused by the teacher's accompaniment. He stopped in 
the middle of his line, saying, 

" I could say it, only you put me out." 

" Well, now try to say the Alphabet, and let me see if I 
can put you out there." 

As might have been expected, the teacher failed. The boy 
went regularly onward to the end. 

"You see, now," said the teacher to the class who had wit- 
nessed the experiment, " that this boy knows his Alphabet 
in a different sense from that in which he knows his Multi- 
plication Table. In the latter, his knowledge is only imper- 
fectly his own ; he can make use of it only under favorable 
circumstances. In the former it is entirely his own ; circum- 
stances have no control over him." 

A child has a lesson in Latin Grammar to recite. She 
hesitates and stammers, miscalls the cases, and then corrects 
herself, and, if she gets through at last, she considers herself 
as having recited well, and very many teachers would con- 
sider it well too. If she hesitates a little longer than usual 
in trying to summon to her recollection a particular word, 



110 THE TEACHER. 

she says, perhaps, "Don't tell me," and if she happens at 
last to guess right, she takes her book with a countenance 
beaming with satisfaction. 

" Suppose you had the care of an infant school," might the 
instructor say to such a scholar, " and were endeavoring to 
teach a little child to count, and she should recite her lesson 
to you in this way, ' One, two, four — no, three — one, two, 

three stop, don't tell me — five — no, four — four — five — 

I shall think in a minute — six — is that right ? five, 

six,' &c. Should you call that reciting welH" 

Nothing is more common than for pupils to say, when they 
fail of reciting their lesson, that they could say it at their 
seats, but that they can not now say it before the class. 
When such a thing is said for the first time it should not be 
severely reproved, because nine children in ten honestly think 
that if the lesson were learned so that it could be recited any 
where, their duty is discharged. But it should be kindly, 
though distinctly explained to them, that in the business of 
life they must have their knowledge so much at command 
that they can use it at all times and in all circumstances, or 
it will do them little good. 

One of the most common cases of difficulty in pursuing 
mathematical studies, or studies of any kind where the suc- 
ceeding lessons depend upon those which precede, is the fact 
that the pupil, though he may understand what precedes, is 
not familiar with it. This is very strikingly the case with 
Geometry. The class study the definitions, and the teacher 
supposes they fully understand them ; in fiict, they do under- 
stand them, but the name and the thing are so feebly connect- 
ed in their minds that a direct eflTort and a short pause are 
necessary to recall the idea when they hear or see the word. 
When they come on, therefore, to the demonstrations, which 
in themselves would be difficult enough, they have double 
duty to perform. The words used do not readily suggest the 
idea, and the connection of the ideas requires careful study. 



INSTRUCTION. Ill 

Under this double burden many a young geometrician sinks 
discouraged. 

A class should go on slowly, and dwell on details so long 
as to fix firmly and make perfectly familiar whatever they 
undertake to learn. In this manner the knowledge they ac- 
quire will become their own. It will be incorporated, as it 
Avere, into their very minds, and they can not afterward be 
deprived of it. 

The exercises which have for their object this rendering 
familiar what has been learned may be so varied as to inter- 
est the pupil very much, instead of being tiresome, as it might 
at first be supposed. 

Suppose, for instance, a teacher has explained to a large 
class in grammar the difference between an adjective and an 
adverb ; if he leave it here, in a fortnight one half of the pu- 
pils would have forgotten the distinction, but by dwelling 
upon it a few lessons he may fix it forever. The first les- 
son might be to require the pupils to write twenty short sen- 
tences containing only adjectives. The second to write twen- 
ty containing only adverbs. The third to write sentences in 
two forms, one containing the adjective, and the other ex- 
pressing the same idea by means of the adverb, arranging 
them in two columns, thus : 

He writes well. | His writing is good. 

Again, they may make out a list of adjectives, w^ith the ad- 
verbs derived from each in another column. Then they may 
classify adverbs on the principle of their meaning, or accord- 
ing to their termination. The exercise may be infinitely 
varied, and yet the object of the whole may be to make per^ 
fecthj familiar, and to fix forever in the mind the distinc- 
tion explained. 

These two points seem to me to be fundamental, so far as 
assisting pupils through the difficulties whicli lie in their way 
is concerned. Diminish the difficulties as far as is necessary 



11 '2 THE TEACHER. 

by shortening and simplifying the steps, and make thorough 
work as you go on. These principles, carried steadily into 
practice, will be effectual in leading any mind through any 
difficulties which may occur. And though they can not, 
perhaps, be fully applied to every mind in a large school, yet 
they can be so far acted upon in reference to the whole mass 
as to accomplish the object for a very large majority. 

3. General cautions. A few miscellaneous suggestions, 
which we shall include under this head, will conclude this 
chapter. 

fl.) Never do any thing for a scholar, but teach him to 
do it for himself. How many cases occur in the schools of 
our country where the boy brings his slate to the teacher, 
saying he can not do a certain sum. The teacher takes the 
slate and pencil, performs the work in silence, brings the re- 
sult, and returns the slate to the hands of his pupil, who 
walks off to his seat, and goes to work on the next example, 
perfectly satisfied with the manner in which he is passing 
on. A man who has not done this a hundred times himself 
will hardly believe it possible that such a practice can pre- 
vail, it is so evidently a mere waste of time both for master 
and scholar. 

(2.) Never get out of patience with dullness. Perhaps I 
ought to say, never get out of patience with any thing. That 
would, perhaps, be the wisest rule. But, above all things, 
remember that dullness and stupidity — and you will certain- 
ly find them in every school — are the very last things to get 
out of patience with. If the Creator has so formed the mind 
of a boy that he must go through life slowly and with diffi- 
culty, impeded by obstructions which others do not feel, and 
depressed by discouragements which others never know, his 
lot is surely hard enough without having you to add to it 
the trials and suffering which sarcasm and reproach from 
you can heap upon him. Look over your school-room, there- 
fore, and wherever you find one whom you perceive the Cre- 



INSTRUCTION. 113 

ator to have endued with less intellectual power than others, 
fix your eye upon him with an expression of kindness and 
sympathy. Such a boy will have suffering enough from the 
selfish tyranny of his companions ; he ought to find in you a 
protector and friend. One of the greatest enjoyments which 
a teacher's life affords is the interest of seeking out such a 
one, bowed down with burdens of depression and discourage- 
ment, unaccustomed to sympathy and kindness, and expect- 
ing nothing for the future but a weary continuation of the 
cheerless toils which have imbittered the past ; and the pleas- 
ure of taking off the burden, of surprising the timid, disheart- 
ened sufferer by kind Avords and cheering looks, and of see- 
ing in his countenance the expression of ease and even of 
happiness gradually returning. 

(3.) The teacher should be interested in all his scholars, 
and aim equally to secure the progress of all. Let there be 
no neglected ones in the school-room. We should always 
remember that, however unpleasant in countenance and man- 
ners that bashful boy in the corner may be, or however re- 
pulsive in appearance, or unhajjpy in disposition, that girl, 
seeming to be interested in nobody, and nobody appearing 
interested in her, they still have, each of them, a mother, w^ho 
loves her own child, and takes a deep and constant interest 
in its history. Those mothers have a right, too, that their 
childi-en should receive their full share of attention in a school 
which has been established for the common and equal bene- 
fit of all. 

(4.) Do not hope or attempt to make all your pupils alike. 
Providence has determined that human minds should differ 
from each other for the very purpose of giving variety and 
interest to this busy scene of life. Now if it were possible 
for a teacher so to plan his operations as to send his pupils 
forth upon the community formed on the same model, as if 
they were made by machinery, he would do so much toward 
spoiling one of the wdsest of the plans which the Almighty 



114 THE TEACHER. 

has formed for making this world a happy scene. Let it be 
the teacher's aim to co-operate with, not vainly to attempt 
to thwart, the designs of Providence. We should bring out 
those powers with which the Creator has endued the minds 
placed under our control. We must open our garden to such 
influences as shall bring forward all the plants, each in a way 
corresponding to its own nature. It is impossible if it were 
wise, and it would be foolish if it were possible, to stimulate, 
by artificial means, the rose, in hope of its reaching the size 
and magnitude of the apple-tree, or to try to cultivate the fig 
and the orange where wheat only will grow. No ; it should 
be the teacher's main design to shelter his pupils from every 
deleterious influence, and to bring every thing to bear upon 
the community of minds before him which will encourage in 
each one the development of its own native powers. For the 
rest, he must remember that his province is to cultivate, not 
to create. 

Error on this j)oint is very common. Many teachers, even 
among those who have taken high rank through the success 
with which they have labored in the field, have wasted much 
time in attempting to do what never can be done, to form 
the character of those brought under their influence after a 
certain uniform model, which they have conceived as the 
standard of excellence. Their pupils must write just such a 
hand, they must compose in just such a style, they must be 
similar in sentiment and feeling, and their manners must be 
formed according to a fixed and uniform model ; and when, 
in such a case, a pupil comes under their charge whom Prov- 
idence has designed to be entirely different from the beau 
ideal adopted as the standard, more time, and pains, and 
anxious solicitude is wasted in vain attempts to produce the 
desired conformity than half the school require beside. 

(5.) Do not allow the faults or obliquities of character, or 
the intellectual or moral wants of any individual of your pu- 
pils to engross a disproportionate share of your time. I have 



INSTRUCTION. 115 

already said that those who are peculiarly in need of sym- 
pathy or help should receive the special attention they seem 
to require ; what I mean to say now is, do not carry this to 
an extreme. When a parent sends you a pupil who, in con- 
sequence of neglect or mismanagement at home, has become 
wild and ungovernable, and full of all sorts of wickedness, he 
has no right to expect that you shall turn your attention 
away from the wide field which, in your whole school-room, 
lies before you, to spend your time, and exhaust your spirits 
and strength in endeavoring to repair the injuries which his 
own neglect has occasioned. "When you open a school, you 
do not engage, either openly or tacitly, to make every pupil 
who may be sent to you a learned or a virtuous man. You 
do engage to give them all faithful instruction, and to bestow 
upon each such a degree of attention as is consistent with the 
claims of the rest. But it is both unwise and unjust to neg- 
lect the many trees in your nursery which, by ordinary at- 
tention, may be made to grow straight and tall, and to bear 
good fruit, that you may waste your labor upon a crooked 
stick, from which all your toil can secure very little beauty 
or fruitfulness. 

Let no one now understand me to say that such cases are 
to be neglected. I admit the propriety, and, in fact, have 
urged the duty, of paying to them a little more than their 
due share of attention. What I now condemn is the prac- 
tice, of which all teachers are in danger, of devoting such a 
disproportionate and unreasonable degree of attention to them 
as to encroach upon their duties to others. The school, the 
whole school, is your field, the elevation of the mass in knowl- 
edge and virtue, and no individual instance, either of dullness 
or precocity, should draw you away from its steady pursuit. 

(6.) The teacher should guard against unnecessarily im- 
bibing those faulty mental habits to which his station and 
employment expose him. Accustomed to command, and to 
hold intercourse with minds which are immature and feeble 



116 THE TEACHEK. 

compared with our own, we gradually acquire habits that 
the rough collisions and the friction of active life prevent 
from gathering around other men. Narrow-minded preju- 
dices and prepossessions are imbibed through the facility 
with which, in our own little community, we adopt and 
maintain opinions. A too strong confidence in our own 
views on every subject almost inevitably comes from never 
hearing our opinions contradicted or called in question, and 
we express those opinions in a tone of authority, and even 
sometimes of arrogance, which we acquire in the school-room, 
for there, when we speak, nobody can reply. 

These peculiarities show themselves first, and, in fact, most 
commonly, in the school-room ; and the opinions thus form- 
ed very often relate to the studies and management of the 
school. One has a peculiar mode of teaching spelling, which 
is successful almost entirely through the magic influence of 
his interest in it, and he thinks no other mode of teaching 
this branch is even tolerable. Another must have all his 
pupils write on' the angular system, or the anti-angular sys- 
tem, and he enters with all the zeal into a controversy on 
the subject, as if the destiny of the whole rising generation 
depended upon its decision. Tell him that all that is of any 
consequence in any handwriting is that it should be legible, 
rapid, and uniform, and that, for the rest, it would be better 
that every human being should write a different hand, and 
he looks upon you with astonishment, wondering that you 
can not see the vital importance of the question whether the 
vertex of an o should be pointed or round. So in every thing. 
He has his way in every minute particular — a way from which 
he can not deviate, and to which he wishes every one else to 
conform. 

This set, formal mannerism is entirely inconsistent mth 
that commanding intellectual influence which the teacher 
should exert in the administration of his school. He should 
work with what an artist calls boldness and freedom of touch. 



INSTRUCTION. 117 

Activity and enterprise of mind should characterize all his 
measures if he wishes to make bold, original, and efficient 
men. 

(7.) Assume no false appearances in your school either as 
to knowledge or character. Perhaps it may justly be said 
to be the common practice of teachers in this country to af- 
fect a dignity of deportment in the presence of their pupils 
which in other cases is laid aside, and to pretend to superi- 
ority in knowledge and an infallibility of judgment which no 
sensible man would claim before other sensible men, but 
which an absurd fashion seems to require of the teacher. It 
can, however, scarcely be said to be a fashion, for the tempt- 
ation is almost exclusively confined to the young and the ig- 
norant, who think they must make up by appearance what 
they want in reality. Very few of the older, and more ex- 
perienced, and successful instructors in our country fall into 
it at all ; but some young beginner, whose knowledge is very 
limited, and who, in manner and habits, has only just ceased 
to be a boy, walks into his school-room with a countenance 
of forced gravity, and with a dignified and solemn step, which 
is ludicrous even to himself. I describe accurately, for I de- 
scribe from recollection. This unnatural, and forced, and lu- 
dicrous dignity cleaves to him like a disease through the 
whole period of his duty. In the presence of his scholars he 
is always under restraint, assuming a stiff and formal dignity 
which is as ridiculous as it is unnatural. He is also obliged 
to resort to arts which are certainly not very honorable to 
conceal his ignorance. 

A scholar, for example, brings him a sum in arithmetic 
which he does not know how to perform. This may be the 
case with a most excellent teacher, and one well qualified 
for his business. In order to be successful as a teacher, it is 
not necessary to understand every thing. Instead, however, 
of saying frankly, "I do not understand that example ; I will 
examine it," he looks at it embarrassed and perplexed, not 



118 THE TEACHER. 

knowing how he shall escape the exposure of his ignorance. 
His first thought is to give some general directions to the 
pupil, and send him to his seat to make a new experiment, 
hoping that in some way or other, he scarcely knows how, 
he will get through ; and, at any rate, if he should not, the 
teacher thinks that he himself at least gains time by the 
manoeuvre, and he is glad to postpone his trouble, though he 
knows it must soon return. 

All efforts to conceal ignorance, and all affectation of 
knowledge not possessed, are as unwise as they are dishon- 
est. If a scholar asks a question which you can not answer, 
or brings you a difficulty which you can not solve, say 
frankly, "I do not know." It is the only way to avoid con- 
tinual anxiety and irritation, and the surest means of secur- 
ing real respect. Let the scholars understand that the supe- 
riority of the teacher does not consist in his infallibility, or 
in his universal acquisitions, but in a well-balanced mind, 
where the boundary between knowledge and ignorance is dis- 
tinctly marked; in a strong desire to go forward in mental 
improvement, and in fixed principles of action and system- 
atic habits. You may even take up in school a study en- 
tirely new to you, and have it understood at the outset that 
you know no more of it than the class commencing, but that 
you can be their guide on account of the superior maturity 
and discipline of your powers, and the comparative ease with 
which you can meet and overcome difficulties. This is the 
understanding which, ought always to exist between master 
and scholars. The fact that the teacher does not knoAV ev- 
ery thing can not long be concealed if he tries to conceal it, 
and in this, as in every other case, hcnesty is the best 

POLICY. 



MOKAL DISCII'J-.1>;E. 



119 



CHAPTER IV. 

MOKAL DISCIPLINE, 




NDER the title which I have placed at the head of this chap- 
ter I intend to discuss the methods by which the teacher is 
to secure a moral ascendency over his pupils, so that he may 
lead them to do what is right, and bring them back to duty 
when they do what is wrong. I shall use, in what I have to 
say, a very plain and familiar style ; and as very much de- 
pends not only on the general principles by which the teach- 
er is actuated, but also on the tone and manner in which, in 
cases of discipline, he addresses his pupils, I shall describe 
particular cases, real and imaginary, because by this method 
I can better illustrate the course to be pursued. I shall also 
present and illustrate the various principles which I consider 
important, and in the order in which they occur to my mind. 
1. The first duty, then, of the teacher when he enters his 
school is to beware of the danger of making an unfavorable 
impression at first upon his pupils. Many years ago, when 
I was a child, the teacher of the school where my early stud- 
ies were performed closed his connection with the establish- 
ment, and after a short vacation another was expected. On 
the appointed day the boys began to collect, some from curi- 



120 THE TEACHER. 

osity, at an early hour, and many speculations were started 
as to the character of the new instructor. We were stand- 
ing near a table with our hats on — and our position, and the 
exact appearance of the group, is indelibly fixed on my mem- 
ory — when a small and youthful-looking man entered the 
room, and walked up toward us. Supposing him to be some 
stranger, or, rather, not making any supposition at all, we 
stood looking at him as he approached, and were thunder- 
struck at hearing him accost us with a stern voice and stern- 
er brow, "Take off your hats. Take off your hats and go to 
your seats." The conviction immediately rushed upon our 
minds that this must be our new teacher. The first emotion 
was that of surprise, and the second was that of the ludi- 
crous, though I believe we contrived to smother the laugh 
until we got out into the open air. 

So long since was this little occurrence that I have entire- 
ly forgotten the iiame of the teacher, and have not the slight- 
est recollection of any other act in his administration of the 
school. But this recollection of his first greeting of his pu- 
pils, and the expression of his countenance at the moment, 
will go with me to the end of life. So strong are first im- 
pressions. 

Be careful, then, when you first see your pupils, that you 
meet them with a smile. I do not mean a pretended cordial- 
ity, which has no existence in the heart, but think of the re- 
lation which you are to sustain to them, and think of the 
very interesting circumstances under which, for some months 
at least, your destinies are to be united to theirs, until you 
can not help feeling a strong interest in them. Shut youi 
eyes for a day or two to their faults, if possible, and take ar 
interest in all their pleasures and pursuits, that the first atti- 
tude in which you exhibit yourself before them may be one 
which shall allure, not repel. 

2. In endeavoring to correct the faults of your pupils, do 
not, as many teachers do, seize only upon those particular cases 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 121 

of transgression which may happen to come under your no- 
tice. These individual instances are very few, probably, com- 
pared with the whole number of faults against which you 
ought to exert an influence. And though you perhaps ought 
not to neglect those which may accidentally come under your 
notice, yet the observing and punishing such cases is a yerj 
small part of your duty. 

You accidentally hear, I will suppose, as you are walking 
home from school, two of your boys in earnest conversation, 
and one of them uses profane language. Now the course to 
be pursued in such a case is, most evidently, not to call the 
boy to you the next day and punish him, and there let the 
matter rest. This would, perhaps, be better than nothing. 
But the chief impression which it would make upon the in- 
dividual and upon the other scholars would be, " I must take 
care how I let the master hear me use such language again." 
A wise teacher, who takes enlarged and extended views of 
his duty in regard to the moral progress of his pupils, would 
act very differently. He would look at the whole subject. 
" Does this fault," he would say to himself, " prevail among 
my pupils 1 If so, how extensively % It is comparatively 
of little consequence to punish the particular transgression. 
The great point is to devise some plan to reach the whole 
evil, and to correct it if possible." 

In one case where such a circumstance occurred, the teacher 
managed it most successfully in the following manner. 

He said nothing to the boy, and, in fact, the boy did not 
know that he was overheard. He allowed a day or two to 
elapse, so that the conversation might be forgotten, and then 
took an opportunity one day, after school, when all things had 
gone on pleasantly, and the school was about to be closed, to 
bring forward the whole subject. He told the boys that he 
had something to say to them after they had laid by their 
books and were ready to go home. The desks were soon 
closed, and every face in the room was turned toward the 

F 



122 THE TEACHER. 

master with a look of fixed attention. It was almost even- 
ing. The sun had gone down. The boys' labors were over. 
Their duties for the day were over ; their minds were at 
rest, and every thing was favorable for making a deep and 
permanent impression. 

*' A few days ago," says the teacher, when all was still, " I 
accidentally overheard some conversation between two of the 
boys of this school, and one of them swore." 

There was a pause. 

" Perhaps you expect that I am now going to call the boy 
out and punish him. Is that what I ought to do?' 

There was no answer. 

" I think a boy who uses bad language of any kind does 
what he knows is wi'ong. He breaks God's commands. He 
does what he knows would be displeasing to his parents, and 
he sets a bad example. He does wrong, therefore, and just- 
ly deserves punishment." 

There were, of course, many boys who felt that they were 
in danger. Every one who had used profane language was 
aware that he might be the one who had been overheard, 
and, of course, all were deeply interested in what the teacher 
was saying. 

'' He might, I say," continued the teacher, "justly be pun- 
ished ; but I am not going to punish him ; for if I should, I 
am afraid that it would only make him a little more careful 
hereafter not to commit this sin when I could possibly be 
within hearing, instead of persuading him, as I wish to, to 
avoid such a sin in future altogether. I am satisfied that that 
boy would be far happier, even in this world, if he would 
make it a principle always to do his duty, and never, in any 
case, to do wrong. And then, when I think how soon he 
and all of us will be in another world, where we shall all be 
judged for what we do here, I feel strongly desirous of per- 
suading him to abandon entirely this practice. I am afraid 
that punishing him now would not do that. 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 123 

*' Besides," continues the teacher, *'I think it very prolDa- 
ble that there ai'e many other boys in this school who are 
sometimes guilty of this fault, and I have thought that it 
would be a great deal better and happier for us all if, instead 
of punishing this particular boy w^iom I have accidentally 
overheard, and who probably is not more to blame than 
many other boys in school, I should bring up the whole sub- 
ject, and endeavor to persuade all the boys to reform." 

I am aware that there are, unfortunately, in our country 
a gi'eat many teachers from whose lips such an appeal as 
this would be wholly in vain. The man who is accustomed 
to scold, and storm, and punish with unsparing severity every 
transgression, under the influence of irritation and anger, 
must not expect that he can win over his pupils to confidence 
in him and to the principles of duty by a word. But such 
an appeal will not be lost when it comes from a man whose 
daily and habitual management corresponds with it. But to 
return to the story ; 

The teacher made some farther remarks, explaining the 
nature of the sin, not in the language of execration and affect- 
ed abhorrence, but calmly, temperately, and without any 
disposition to make the worst of the occurrence which had 
taken place. In concluding what he said, he addressed the 
boys as follows : 

" Now, boys, the question is, do you wish to abandon this 
habit or not ? If you do, all is well. I shall immediately for- 
get all the past, and will do all I can to help you resist and 
overcome temptation in future. But all I can do is only to 
help you ; and the first thing to be done, if you wish to en- 
gage in this work of reform, is to acknowledge your fault ; 
and I should like to know how many are willing to do this." 

" I wish all those who are willing to tell me whether they 
use profane language would rise." 

Every individual but one rose. 

" I am very glad to see so large a number," said the 



124 THE TEACUEK. 

teacher; "and I hope you will find that the work of confess- 
ing and forsaking your faults is, on the whole, pleasant, not 
painful business. Now those who can truly and honestly say 
that they never do use profane language of any kind may 
take their seats." 

Three only of the whole number, which consisted of not 
far from twenty, sat down. It was in a sea-port town, where 
the temptation to yield to this vice is even greater than would 
be, in the interior of our country, supposed possible. 

"Those who are now standing," pursued the teacher, "ad- 
mit that they do, sometimes at least, commit this sin. I sup- 
pose all, however, are determined to reform ; for I do not 
know what else should induce you to rise and acknowledge it 
here, unless it is a desire hereafter to break yourselves of the 
habit. But do you suppose that it will be enough for you 
merely to resolve here that you will reform "?" 

"No, sir," said the boys. 

" Why not ? If you now sincerely determine never more 
to use a profane word, will you not easily avoid itf 

The boys were silent. Some said faintly, " No, sir." 

" It will not be easy for you to avoid the sin hereafter," 
continued the teacher, " even if you do now sincerely and 
resolutely determine to do so. You have formed the habit 
of sin, and the habit will not be easily overcome. But I have 
detained you long enough now. I will try to devise some 
method by which you may carry your plan into effect, and 
to-morrow I will tell you what it is." 

So the boys were dismissed for the day ; the pleasant 
countenance and cheerful tone of the teacher conveying to 
them the impression that they were engaging in the common 
effort to accomplish a most desirable purpose, in which they 
were to receive the teacher's help, not that he was pursuing 
them, with threatening and punishment, into the forbidden 
practice into which they had wickedly strayed. Great caution 
is, however, in such a case, necessary to guard against the 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 125 

danger that the teacher, in attempting to avoid the tones of irri- 
tation and anger, should so speak of the sin as to blunt his pu- 
pils' sense of its guilt, and lull their consciences into a slumber. 

At the appointed time on the following day the subject 
was again brought before the school, and some plans pro- 
posed by which the resolutions now formed might be more 
certainly kept. These plans were readily and cheerfully 
adopted by the boys, and in a short time the vice of pro- 
faneness was, in a great degree, banished from the school. 

I hope the reader will keep in mind the object of the above 
illustration, which is to show that it is the true policy of 
the teacher not to waste his time and strength in contending 
against such accidentalinstances of transgression as may chance 
to fall under his notice, but to take an enlarged and extended 
view of the whole ground, endeavoring to remove ivhole classes 
of faults — to elevate and improve multitudes together. 

By these means, his labors will not only be more effectual, 
but far more pleasant. You can not come into collision with 
an individual scholar, to punish him for a mischievous spirit, 
or even to rebuke him for some single act by which he has 
given you trouble, without an uncomfortable and uneasy 
feeling, which makes, in ordinary cases, the discipline of a 
school the most unpleasant part of a teacher's duty. But 
you can plan a campaign against a whole class of faults, and 
put into operation a system of measures to correct them, and 
watch from day to day the operation of that system with all 
the spirit and interest of a game. It is, in fact, a game where 
your ingenuity and moral power are brought into the field, 
in opposition to the evil tendencies of the hearts which are 
under your influence. You will notice the success or the 
failure of the means you may put into operation with all the 
interest with which the experimental philosopher observes 
the curious processes he guides, though your interest may be 
much purer and higher, for he works upon matter, but you 
are experimenting upon mind. 



126 THE TEACHER. 

Remember, then, as for the first time you take your new 
station at the head of your school, that it is not your duty 
simply to watch with an eagle eye for those accidental in- 
stances of transgression which may chance to fall under your 
notice. You are to look over the whole ground. You are 
to make yourself acquainted, as soon as possible, with the 
classes of character and classes of faults which may prevail in 
your dominions, and to form deliberate and well-digested 
plans for improving the one and correcting the other. 

And this is to be the course pursued not only with great 
delinquencies, such as those to which I have already alluded, 
but to every little transgi'ession against the rules of order and 
propriety. You can correct them far more easily and pleas- 
antly in the mass than in detail. 

To illustrate this principle by another case. A teacher, 
who takes the course I am condemning, approaches the seat 
of one of his pupils, and asks to see one of his books. As 
the boy opens his desk, the teacher observes that it is in com- 
plete disorder. Books, maps, papers, play-things, are there 
in promiscuous confusion, and, from the impulse of the mo- 
ment, the displeased teacher pours out upon the poor boy a 
torrent of reproach. 

" What a looking desk ! Why, John, I am really ashamed 
of you ! Look !" continues he, holding up the lid, so that the 
boys in the neighborhood can look in ; " see what a mass of 
disorder and confusion. If ever I see your desk in such a 
state again, I shall most certainly punish you." 

The boys around laugh, very equivocally, however, for, 
with the feeling of amusement, there is mingled the fear that 
the angry master may take it into his head to inspect their 
domains. The boy accidentally exposed looks sullen, and be- 
gins to throw his books into some sort of arrangement, just 
enough to shield himself from the charge of absolutely diso- 
beying \lie injunction that he has received, and there the 
matter ends. 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 127 

Another teacher takes no apparent notice of the confusion 
which he thus accidentally witnesses. "I must take up," 
thinks he to himself, " the subject of order before the whole 
school. I have not yet spoken of it." He thanks the boy 
for the book he borrowed, and goes away. He makes a 
memorandum of the subject, and the boy does not know that 
the condition of his desk was noticed ; perhaps he does nof 
even know that there was any thing amiss. 

A day or two after, at a time regularly appropriated to 
such subjects, he addresses the boys as follows : 

*' In our efforts to improve the school as much as possible, 
there is one subject which we must not forget. I mean the 
order of the desks." 

The boys all begin to open their desk lids. 

"You may stop a moment," says the teacher. "I shall 
give you all an opportunity to examine your desks presently. 

"I do not know what the condition of your desks is. I 
have not examined them, and have not, in fact, seen the in- 
side of more than one or two. As I have not brought up 
this subject before, I presume that there are a great many 
which can be arranged better than they are. Will you all 
now look into your desks, and see whether you consider them 
in good order ? Stop a moment, however. Let me tell you 
what good order is. All those things which are alike should 
be arranged together. Books should be in one place, papers 
in another, and thus every thing should be classified. Again, 
every thing should be so placed that it can be taken out with- 
out disturbing other things. There is another principle, also, 
which I will mention : the various articles should have con- 
stant places, that is, they should not be changed from day to 
day. By this means you soon remember where every thing 
belongs, and you can put away your things much more easily 
every night than if you had every night to arrange them in 
a new way. Now will you look into your desks, and tell me 
whether they are, on these three principles, well arranged*?" 



128 THE TEACHER. 

The boys of most schools, where this subject had not been 
regularly attended to, would nearly all answer in the negative. 

'' I will aUow you, then, some time to-day, fifteen minutes 
to arrange your desks, and I hope you will try to keep them 
in good order hereafter. A few days hence I shall examine 
them. If any of you wish for assistance or advice from me 
in putting them in order, I shall be happy to render it." 

By such a plan, which will occupy but little more time 
than the irritating and useless scolding which I supposed in 
the other case, how much more will be accomplished. Such 
an address would of itself, probably, be the means of putting 
in order, and keeping in order, at least one half of the desks 
in the room, and following up the plan in the same manner 
and in the same spirit with which it was begun would secure 
the rest. 

I repeat it, therefore, make it a principle in all cases to 
aim as much as possible at the correction of those faults which 
are likely to be general by general measures. You avoid by 
this means a vast amount of irritation and impatience, both 
on your own part and on the part of your scholars, and you 
produce twenty times the useful effect. 

3. The next principle which occurs to me as deserving the 
teacher's attention in the outset of his course is this : 

Interest your scholars in doing something themselves to el- 
evate the moral character of the school, so as to secure a de- 
cided majority who will, of their own accord, co-operate with you. 

Let your pupils understand, not by any formal speech 
which you make to that effect, but by the manner in which, 
from time to time, you incidentally allude to the subject, that 
you consider the school, when you commence it, as at par, so 
to speak — that is, on a level with other schools, and that 
your various plans for improving and amending it are not to 
be considered in the light of finding fault, and punishing 
transgi-essions, and controlling evil propensities, so as just to 
keep things in a tolerable state, but as efforts to improve and 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 129 

cany forward the institution to a still higher state of excel- 
lence. Such is the tone and manner of some teachers that 
they never appear to be more than merely satisfied. "SYhen 
the scholars do right, nothing is said about it. The teacher 
seems to consider that a matter of course. It does not ap- 
pear to interest or please him at all. Nothing arouses him 
but when they do wrong, and that only excites him to anger 
and frowns. Now in such a case there can, of course, be no 
stimulus to eiFort on the part of the pupils but the cold and 
heartless stimulus of fear. 

Now it is wrong for the teacher to expect that things will 
CO rijxht in his school as a matter of course. All that he can 
expect as a matter of course is, that things should go on as 
well as they do ordinarily in schools — the ordinary amount 
of idleness, the ordinary amount of misconduct. This is the 
most that he can expect to come as a matter of course. He 
should feel this, and then all he can gain which will be bet- 
ter than this will be a source of positive pleasure ; a pleas- 
ure which his pupils have procured for him, and which, con- 
sequently, they should share. They should understand that 
the teacher is engaged in various plans for improving the 
school, in which they should be invited to engage, not from 
the selfish desire of thereby saving him trouble, but because 
it will really be happy employment for them to engage in 
such an enterprise, and because, by such efforts, their own 
moral powers will be exerted and strengthened in the best 
possible way. 

In another chapter I have explained to wdiat extent, and 
in what manner, the assistance of the pupils may be usefully 
and successfully employed in carrying forward the general 
arrangements of the school. The same principles will apply 
here, though perhaps a little more careful and delicate man- 
agement is necessary in interesting them in subjects which 
relate to moral discipline. 

One important method of accomplishing this end is to pre- 
F2 



130 THE TEACHER. 

sent these plans before the minds of the scholars as experi- 
ments — moral experiments, whose commencement, progress, 
and results they may take a great interest in witnessing. 
Let us take, for example, the case alluded to under the last 
head— the plan of effecting a reform in regard to keeping 
desks in order. Suppose the teacher were to say, when the 
time had arrived at which he had promised to give them an 
opportunity to put the desks in order, 

" I think it would be a good plan to keep some account of 
our efforts for improving the school in this respect. Wc 
might make a record of what we do to-day, noting the day 
of the month and the number of desks which may be found 
to be disorderly. Then, at the end of any time you may 
propose, we will have the desks examined again, and see how 
many are disorderly then. We can thus see how much im- 
provement has been made in that time. Should you like to 
adopt the plan f 

If the boys should appear not much interested in the pro- 
posal, the teacher might, at his own discretion, waive it. In 
all probability, however, they would like it, and would indi- 
cate their interest by their countenances, or perhaps by a 
response. If so, the teacher might proceed. 

" You may all examine your desks, then, and decide wheth- 
er they are in order or not. I do not know, however, but 
that we ought to appoint a committee to examine them ; for 
perhaps all the boys would not be honest, and report their 
desks as they really are." 

"Yes, sir;" " yes, sir," say the boys. 

" Do you mean that you will be honest, or that you would 
like to have a committee appointed?" 

There was a confused murmur. Some answer one, and 
some the other. 

"I think," proceeds the teacher, "the boys will be honest, 
and report their desks just as they are. At any rate, the 
number of dishonest boys in this school can not be so large 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 131 

as materially to affect the result. I think we had better 
take your own statements. As soon as the desks are all ex- 
amined, those who have found theirs in a condition which 
does not satisfy them are requested to rise and be counted." 

The teacher then looks around the room, and selecting 
some intelligent boy wdio has influence among his compan- 
ions, and whose influence he is particularly desirous of enlist- 
ing on the side of good order, says, " Shall I nominate some 
one to keep an account of the number f 

" Yes, sir," say the boys. 

"Well, I nominate William Jones. How many are in 
favor of requesting William Jones to perform this duty f * 

" It is a vote. William, I will thank you to write upon a 
piece of paper that on the 8th of December the subject of 
order in the desks was brought up, and that the boys resolved 
on making an eflTort to improve the school in this respect. 
Then say that the boys reported all their desks which they 
thought were disorderly, and that the number was thirty-five ; 
and that after a week or two, the desks are to be examined 
again, and the disorderly ones counted, that we may see how 
much we have improved. After you have •^^Titten it you 
may bring it to me, and I will tell you whether it is right." 

" How many desks do you think will be found to be dis- 
orderly when we come to make the examination V 

The boys hesitate. 

The teacher names successively several numbers, and asks 
whether they think the real number will be greater or less. 
He notices their votes upon them, and at last fixes upon one 
which seems to be about the general sense of the school. 
Then the teacher himself mentions the number which he sup- 
poses will be found to be disorderly. His estimate wdll or- 
dinarily be larger than that of the scholars, because he 
knows better how easily resolutions are broken. This num- 
ber, too, is recorded, and then the whole subject is dismissed. 

Now, of course, no reader of these remarks will understand 



l;32 THE TEACHER. 

me to be recommending, by this imaginaiy dialogue, a par- 
ticular course to be taken in regard to this subject, far less 
the particular language to be used. All I mean is to show 
by a familiar illustration how the teacher is to endeavor to 
enlist the interest and to excite the curiosity of his pupils in 
his plans for the improvement of his school, by presenting 
them as moral experiments, which they are to assist him in 
trying — experiments whose progress they are to watch, and 
whose results they are to predict. If the precise steps which 
I have described should actually be taken, although it would 
occupy but a fcAv minutes, and would cause no thought and 
no perplexing care, yet it would undoubtedly be the means 
of awakening a very general interest in the subject of order 
throughout the school. All would be interested in the work 
of arrangement. 

All would watch, too, with interest the progress and the 
result of the experiment ; and if, a few days afterward, the 
teacher should accidentally, in recess, see a disorderly desk, 
a good-humored remark made with a smile to the by-stand- 
ers, "I suspect my prediction will turn out the correct one," 
would have far more effect than the most severe reproach- 
es, or the tingling of a rap over the knuckles with a ratan. 

I know from experience that scholars of every kind can be 
led by such measures as these, or rather by such a spirit as 
this, to take an active interest, and to exert a most power- 
ful influence in regard to the whole condition of the institu- 
tion. I have seen the experiment successful in boys' schools 
and in girls' schools, among very little children, and among 
the seniors and juniors at college. 

In one of the colleges of New England a new and beau- 
tiful edifice was erected. The lecture-rooms were fitted up 
in handsome style, and the officers, when the time for the 
occupation of the building approached, were anticipating with 
regret what seemed to be the unavoidable defacing, and cut- 
ting, and marking of the seats and walls. It was, however, 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 



133 




thought that if the subject was properly presented to the 
students, they would take an interest in preserving the prop- 
erty from injury. They were accordingly addressed some- 
what as follows : 

"It seems, young gentlemen, to be generally the custom 
in colleges for the students to ornament the walls and bench- 
es of their recitation-rooms with various inscriptions and car- 
icatures, so that after the premises have been for a short time 
in the possession of a class, every thing within reach, which 
will take an impression from a penknife or a trace from a 
pencil, is covered with names, and dates, and heads, and in- 
scriptions of every kind. The faculty do not know what you 
wish in this respect in regard to the new accommodations 
which the trustees have now provided for you, and which 
you are soon to enter. They have had them fitted up for 
you handsomely, and if you wish to have them kept in good 
order, we Tsall assist you. If the students think proper to 
express by a vote, or in any other way, their wish to keep 
them in good order, we will engage to have such incidental 



134 THE TEACHER. 

injuries as may from time to time occur immediately re- 
paired. Such injuries will, of course, be done ; for, what- 
ever may be the wish and general opinion of the whole, it is 
not to be expected that every individual in so large a com- 
munity will be careful. If, however, as a body, you wish to 
have the building preserved in its present state, and will, as 
a body, take the necessary precautions, we will do our part." 

The students responded to this appeal most heartily. They 
passed a vote expressing a desire to preserve the premises in 
order, and for many years, and, for aught I know, to the 
present hour, the whole is kept as a room occupied by gen- 
tlemen should be kept. At some other colleges, and those, 
too, sustaining the very highest rank among the institutions 
of the country, the doors of the public buildings are some- 
times studded with nails as thick as they can 2'>ossibhj be driven, 
and then covered ivith a thick coat of sand dried into the 2mint, 
as a jwotection from the knives of the students ! I 

The particular methods by which the teacher is to interest 
his pupils in his various plans for their improvement can 
not be fully described here. In fact, it does not depend so 
much on the methods he adopts as upon the view which he 
himself takes of these plans, and the tone and manner in which 
he speaks of them to his 2)upils. 

A teacher, for example, perhaps on the first day of his la- 
bors in a new school, calls a class to read. They pretend to 
form a line, but it crooks in every direction. One boy is 
leaning back against a desk ; another comes forward as far 
as possible, to get near the fire ; the rest lounge in every po- 
sition and in every attitude. John is holding up his book 
high before his face to conceal an apple from which he is en- 
deavoring to secure an enormous bite. James is, by the same 
sagacious device, concealing a whisper which he is address- 
ing to his next neighbor, and Moses is seeking amusement 
by crowding and elbowing the little boy who is unluckily 
standino; next him. 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 135 

"What a spectacle!" says the master to himself, as he 
looks at this sad display. *' What shall I do V The first 
Impulse is to break forth upon them at once with all the ar- 
tillery of reproof, and threatening, and punishment. I have 
seen, in such a case, a scolding and frowning master walk up 
and down before such a class with a stern and angry air, 
commanding this one to stand back, and that one to come for- 
ward, ordering one boy to put down his book, and scolding 
at a second for having lost his place, and knocking the knees 
of another with his ruler because he was out of the line. The 
boys scowl at their teacher, and, with ill-natured reluctance, 
they obey just enough to escape punishment. 

Another teacher looks calmly at the scene, and says to 
himself, " "What shall I do to remove effectually these evils ? 
If I can but interest the boys in reform, it will be far more 
easy to effect it than if I attempt to accomplish it by the 
mere exercise of my authority." 

In the mean time things go on during the reading in their 
own way. The teacher simply obsen'es. He is in no haste 
to commence his operations. He looks for the faults ; watch- 
es, without seeming to watch, the movements which he is at- 
tempting to control. He studies the materials with which 
he is to work, and lets their true character develop itself. 
He tries to find something to approve in the exercise as it 
proceeds, and endeavors to interest the class by narrating 
some fact connected with the reading, or making some ex- 
planation which interests the boys. At the end of the exer- 
cise he addresses them, perhaps, as follows : 

" I have observed, boys, in some military companies, that 
the officers are very strict, requiring implicit and precise 
obedience. The men are required to form a precise line." 
(Here there is a sort of involuntary movement all along the 
line, by which it is very sensibly straightened.) " They make 
all the men stand erect" (at this word heads go up, and strag- 
gling feet draw in all along the class), " in the true militarv 



136 THE TEACHER. 

posture. They allow nothing to be clone in the ranks but to 
attend to the exercise" (John hastily crowds his apple into 
his pocket), " and thus they regulate every thing in exact 
and steady discipline, so that all things go on in a most sys- 
tematic and scientific manner. This discipline is so admi- 
rable in some countries, especially in Europe, where much 
greater attention is paid to military tactics than in our coun- 
try, that I have heard it said by travelers that some of the 
soldiers who mount guard at public places look as much like 
statues as they do like living men. 

" Other commanders act differently. They let the men do 
pretty much as they please. So you will see such a company 
lounging into a line when the drum beats, as if they took 
little interest in what was .going on. AYhile the captain is 
giving his commands, one is eating his luncheon, another is 
talking with his next neighbor. Part are out of the line ; 
part lounge on one foot ; they hold their guns in every posi- 
tion ; and, on the wliole, present a very disorderly and unsol- 
dier-like appearance. 

" I have observed, too, that boys very generally prefer to 
see the strict companies, but perhaps they would prefer to 
belong to the lax ones." 

"No, sir;" "No, sir," say the boys. 

" Suppose you all had your choice either to belong to a 
company like the first one I described, where the captain 
was strict in all his requirements, or to one like the latter, 
where you could do pretty much as you pleased, which should 
you prefer'?" 

Unless I am entirely mistaken in my idea of the inclina- 
tions of boys, it would be very difficult to get a single honest 
expression of preference for the latter. They would say with 
one voice, 

" The first." 

"I suppose it would be so. You would be put to some 
inconvenience by the strict commands of the captain, but 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 137 

then you would be more than paid by the beauty of regular- 
ity and order which you would all witness. There is nothing 
so pleasant as regularity, and nobody likes regularity more 
than boys do. To show this, I should like to have you now 
form a line as exact as you can." 

After some unnecessary shoving and pushing, increased by 
the disorderly conduct of a few bad boys, a line is formed. 
Most of the class are pleased with the experiment, and the 
teacher takes no notice of the few exceptions. The time to 
attend to them will come by-and-by. 

" Hands down." The boys obey. 

" Shoulders back." 

" There ; there is a very perfect line." 

" Do you stand easily in that position V 

*'Yes, sir." 

" I believe your position is the military one now, pretty 
nearly ; and military men study the postures of the human 
body for the sake of finding the one most easy ; for they wish 
to preserve as much as possible of the soldiers' strength for 
the time of battlfe. I should like to try the experiment of 
your standing thus at the next lesson. It is a very great 
improvement upon your common mode. Are you willing to 
doit?" 

"Yes, sir," say the boys. 

"You ^\dll get tired, I have no doubt; for the military 
position, though most convenient and easy in the end, is not 
to be learned and fixed in practice without effort. In fact, 
T do not expect you will succeed the first day very well. 
You will probably become restless and uneasy before the end 
of the lesson, especially the smaller boys. I must excuse it, 
I suppose, if you do, as it will be the first time." 

By such methods as these the teacher will certainly secure 
a majority in favor of all his plans. But perhaps some ex- 
perienced teacher, wlio knows from his own repeated difficul- 
ties with bad boys what sort of spirits the teacher of dis- 



3 38 THE TEACHER. 

trict schools has sometimes to deal with, may ask, as he reads 
this, 

" Do you expect that such a method as this will succeed 
in keeping your school in order ? Why there are boys in 
almost every school whom you would no more coax into 
obedience and order in this way than you would persuade 
the northeast wind to change its course by reasoning." 

I know there are. And my readers are requested to bear 
in mind that my object is not to show how the whole gov- 
ernment of the school may be secured, but how one impor- 
tant advantage may be gained, which will assist in accom- 
plishing the object. All I should expect or hope for, by such 
measures as these, is to interest and gain over to our side the 
majority. What is to be done Avith those who can not be 
reached by such kinds of influence I shall endeavor presently 
to show. The object now is simply to gain the majority — 
to awaken a general interest, which you can make effectual 
in promoting your plans, and thus to narrow the field of dis- 
cipline by getting those right who can be got right by such 
measures. 

Thus securing a majority to be on your side in the general 
administration of the school is absolutely indispensable to 
success. A teacher may, indeed, by the force of mere author- 
ity, so control his pupils as to preserve order in the school- 
room, and secure a tolerable progress in study, but the prog- 
ress will be slow, and the cultivation of moral principle 
must be, in such a case, entirely neglected. The principles 
of duty can not be inculcated by fear ; and though pain and 
terror must in many instances be called in to coerce an in- 
dividual offender, whom milder measures will not reach, yet 
these agents, and others like them, can never be successfully 
employed as the ordinary motives to action. They can not 
produce any thing but mere external and heartless obedience 
in the presence of the teacher, with an inclination to throw off 
all restraint when the pressure of stern authority is removed. 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. V69 

We should all remember that our pupils are but for a very- 
short time under our direct control. Even when they are in 
school the most untiring vigilance will not enable us to watch, 
except for a very small portion of the time, any one individ- 
ual. Many hours of the day, too, they are entirely removed 
from our inspection, and a few months will take them away 
from us altogether. Subjecting them, then, to mere external 
restraint is a very inadequate remedy for the moral evil to 
which they are exposed. What we aim at is to bring for- 
ward and strengthen an internal principle which will act 
when both parent and teacher are away, and control where 
external circumstances are all unfavorable. 

I have thus far, under this head, been endeavoring to show 
the importance of securing, by gentle measures, a majority 
of the scholars to co-operate with the teacher in his plans. 
The particular methods of doing tliis demand a little at- 
tention. 

(1.) The teacher should study human nature as it exhibits 
itself in the school-room by taking an interest in the sports 
and enjoyments of the pupils, and connecting, as much as 
possible, what is interesting and agreeable with the pursuits 
of the school, so as to lead the scholars to like the place. An 
attachment to the institution, and to the duties of it, will 
give the teacher a very strong hold upon the community of 
mind which exists there. 

(2.) Every thing which is unpleasant in the discipline of 
the school should be attended to, as far as possible, privately. 
Sometimes it is necessary to bring a case forward in public 
for reproof or punishment, but this is seldom required. In 
some schools it is the custom to postpone cases of discipline 
till the close of the day, and then, just before the boys are 
dismissed at night, all the difficulties are settled. Thus, day 
after day, the impression which is last made upon their minds 
is received from a season of suffering, and terror, and tears. 

Now such a practice may be attended with many advant- 



140 THE TEACHER. 

ages, but it seems to be, on the whole, unwise. Awing the 
pupils, by showing them the painful consequences of doing 
wrong, should be very seldom resorted to. It is far better 
to allure them by showing them the pleasures of doing right. 
Doing right is pleasant to every body, and no persons are so 
easily convinced of this, or, rather, so easily led to see it, as 
children. Now the true policy is to let them experience the 
pleasure of doing their duty, and they will easily be allured 
to it. 

In many cases, Avhere a fault has been publicly committed, 
it seems, at first view, to be necessary that it should be pub- 
licly punished ; but the end will, in most cases, be answered 
if it is noticed publicly, so that the pupils may know that it 
received attention, and then the ultimate disposal of the case 
may be made a private affair between the teacher and the 
individual concerned. If, however, every case of disobedi- 
ence, or idleness, or disorder, is brought out publicly before 
the school, so that all witness the teacher's displeasure and 
feel the effects of it (for to witness it is to feel its most un- 
pleasant effects), the school becomes, in a short time, harden- 
ed to such scenes. Unpleasant associations become connect- 
ed Avith the management of the school, and the scholars are 
prepared to do wrong with less reluctance, since the conse- 
quence is only a repetition of what they are obliged to sed 
every day. 

Besides, if a boy does something wrong, and you severely 
reprove him in the presence of his class, you punish the class 
almost as much as you do him. In fact, in many cases you 
punish them more ; for I believe it is almost invariably more 
unpleasant for a good boy to stand by and listen to rebukes, 
than for a bad boy to take them. Keep these things, there- 
fore, as much as possible out of sight. Never bring forward 
cases of discipline except on mature deliberation, and for a 
distinct and well-defined purpose. 

(3.) Never bring forward a case of discipline of this kind 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 141 

unless you are sure that public opinion will go in your favor. 
If a case comes up in which the sympathy of the scholars is 
excited for the criminal in such a way as to be against your- 
self, the punishment will always do more harm than good. 
Now this, unless there is great caution, will often happen. 
In fact, it is probable that a very large proportion of the 
punishments which ai'e ordinarily inflicted in schools only 
prepare the way for more offenses. 

It is, however, possible to bring forward individual cases 
in such a way as to produce a very strong moral effect of the 
right kind. This is to be done by seizing upon those pecul- 
iar emergencies which will arise in the course of the admin- 
istration of a school, and which each teacher must watch for 
and discover himself. They can not be pointed out. I may, 
however, give a clearer idea of what is meant by such emer- 
gencies by an example. It is a case which actually occurred 
as here narrated. 

In a school where nearly all the pupils were faithful and 
docile, there were one or two boys who were determined to 
find amusement in those mischievous tricks so common in 
schools and colleges. There was one boy, in particular, who 
was the life and soul of all these plans. Devoid of princi- 
ple, idle as a scholar, morose and sullen in his manners, he 
was, in every respect, a true specimen of the whole class of 
mischief-makers, wherever they are to be found. His mis- 
chief consisted, as usual, in such exploits as stopping up the 
keyhole of the door, upsetting the teacher's inkstand, or fix- 
ing something to his desk to make a noise and interrupt the 
school. 

It so happened that there was a standing feud between 
the boys of his neighborhood and those of another situated 
a mile or two from it. By his malicious activity he had 
stimulated this quarrel to a high pitch, and was very obnox- 
ious to the . -ys of the other party. One day, when taking 
a walk, the teacher observed a number of boys with excited 



142 THE TEACUEli. 

looks, and armed with sticks and stones, standing around a 
shoemaker's shop, to which his poor pupil had gone for refuge i 
from them. They had got him completely within their pow- ^ 
er, and were going to wait until he should be wearied with 
his confinement and come out, when they were going to in- 
flict upon him the punishment they thought he deserved. 

The teacher interfered, and by the united influence of au- 
thority, management, and persuasion, succeeded in effecting 
a rescue. The boy would probably have preferred to owe 
his safety to any one else than to the teacher whom he had 
so often tried to tease, but he was glad to escape in any 
way. The teacher said nothing about the subject, and the 
boy soon supposed it was entirely forgotten. 

But it was not forgot<ten. The teacher knew perfectly well 
that the boy would before long be at his old tricks again, and 
was reserving this story as the means of turning the whole 
current of public opinion against such tricks, should they again 
occur. 

One day he came to school in the afternoon, and found the 
room filled with smoke ; the doors and windows were all 
closed, though, as soon as he came in, some of the boys opened 
them. He knew by this circumstance that it was roguery, 
not accident, which caused the smoke. He appeai-ed not to 
notice it, however, said he was sorry it smoked, and asked 
the mischievous boy — ^for he was sure to be always near in 
such a case — to assist him in putting up the wood of the fire 
more compactly. The boy supposed that the smoke was un- 
derstood to be accidental, and perhaps secretly laughed at the 
dullness of his master. 

In the course of the afternoon, the teacher ascertained by 
private inquiries that his suspicions were correct as to the 
author of the mischief At the close of school, when the 
studies were ended, and the books laid away, he said to the 
scholars that he wanted to tell them a story. 

He then, with a pleasant tone and manner, gave a very 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 143 

minute, and, to the boys, a veiy interesting narrative of his 
adventure two or three weeks before, when he rescued this 
boy from his danger. He called him, however, simply a hoy, 
without mentioning his name, or even hinting that he was a 
member of the school. No narrative could excite a stronger 
interest among an audience of school-boys than such a one 
as this, and no act of kindness from a teacher would make 
as vivid an impression as interfering to rescue a trembling 
captive from such a situation as the one this boy had been in. 

The scholars listened with profound interest and attention, 
and though the teacher said little about his share in the af- 
fair, and spoke of what he did as if it were a matter of course 
that he should thus befriend a boy in distress, an impression 
very favorable to himself must have been made. After he 
had finished his narrative, he said, 

" Now should you like to know who this boy was f 

"Yes, sir," "Yes, sir," said they, eagerly. 

" It was a boy that you all know." 

The boys looked around upon one another. Who could 
it be? 

" He is a member of this school." 

There was an expression of fixed, and eager, and increas- 
ing interest on every face in the room. 

"He is here now," said the teacher, winding up the in- 
terest and curiosity of the scholars, by these words, to the 
highest pitch. 

" But I can not tell you his name ; for what return do 
you think he made to me ? To be sure it was no very great 
favor that I did him ; I should have been unworthy the name 
of teacher if I had not done it for him, or for any boy in my 
school. But, at any rate, it showed my good wishes for him ; 
it showed that I was his friend ; and what return do you 
think he made me for it ? Why, to-day he spent his time 
between schools in filling the room with smoke, that he 
might torment his companions here, and give me trouble, and 



144 THE TEACHER. 

anxiety, and suffering when I should come. If I should tell 
you his name, the whole school would turn against him for 
his ingratitude." 

The business ended here, and it put a stop, a final stop, to 
all malicious tricks in the school. Now it is not very often 
that so fine an opportunity occurs to kill, by a single blow, 
the disposition to do willful, wanton injury, as this circum- 
stance afforded ; but the principle illustrated by it, bringing 
forward individual cases of transgression in a public manner, 
only for the sake of the general effect, and so arranging what 
is said and done as to produce the desired effect upon the 
public mind in the highest degree, may very frequently be 
acted upon. Cases are continually occurring, and if the 
teacher will keep it constantly in mind, that when a particu- 
lar case comes before the whole school, the object is an influ- 
ence upon the whole, and not the punishment or reform of 
the guilty individual, he will insensibly so shape liis measures 
as to produce the desired result. 

(4.) There should be a great difference made between the 
measwes which you take to prevent wrong, and the feelings of 
displeasure which you exjjress against the wrong when it is done. 
The former should be strict, authoritative, unbending ; the 
latter should be mild and gentle. Your measures, if uniform 
and systematic, will never give offense, however powerfully 
you may restrain and control those subject to them. It is 
the morose look, the harsh expression, the tone of irritation 
and fretfulness, which is so unpopular in school. The sins 
of childhood are by nine tenths of mankind enormously over- 
rated, and perhaps none overrate them more extravagantly 
than teachers. We confound the trouble they give us with 
their real moral turpitude, and measure the one by the other. 
Now if a fault prevails in school, one teacher will scold and 
fret himself about it day after day, until his scholars are tired 
both of school and of him ; and yet he will do nothing effect- 
ual to remove it. Another will take efficient and decided 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 145 

measures, and yet say very little on the subject, and the whole 
evil will be removed without suspending for a moment the 
good-humor and pleasant feeling which should i3revail hi 
school. 

The expression of your displeasure on account of any thin^- 
that is v^Tong will seldom or never do any good. The schol- 
ars consider it scolding ; it is scolding ; and though it may, 
in many cases, contain many sound arguments and eloquent 
expostulations, it operates simply as a punishment. It is un- 
pleasant to hear it. General instruction must indeed be given, 
but not general reproof. 

(6.) Feel that in the management of the school you are 
under obligation as well as the scholars, and let this feeling 
appear in all that you do. Your scholars wish you to dis- 
miss school earlier than usual on some particular occasion, 
or to allow them an extra holiday. Show by the manner in 
which you consider and speak of the question that your main 
inquiry is what is i/our duty. Speak often of your responsi- 
bility to your employers — not formally, but incidentally and 
naturally, as you will speak if you feel this responsibility. 

It will assist very much, too, in securing cheerful, good- 
humored obedience to the regulations of the school, if you 
extend their authority over yourself. Not that the teacher 
is to have no liberty from which the scholars are debarred ; 
this would be impossible. But the teacher should submit, 
himself, to every thing v/hich he requires of his scholars, un- 
less it is in cases where a different course is necessary. 

Suppose, for instance, a study-card, like the one described 
in a preceding chapter, is made so as to mark the time of re- 
cess and of study. The teacher, near the close of recess, is 
sitting with a group of his pupils around him, telling them 
some story. They are all interested, and they see he is in- 
terested. He looks at his watch, and shows by his manner 
that he is desirous of finishing what he is saying, but that he 
knows that the striking- of the bell will cut short his story. 

a 



146 THE TEACHEK. 

Perhaps lie says not a word about it, but his pupils see that 
he is submitting to the control which is placed over them ; 
and when the card goes up, and he stops instantly in the 
middle of his sentence and rises with the rest, each one to go 
to his own place, to engage at once in their several duties, 
he teaches them a most important lesson, and in the most ef- 
fectual way. Such a lesson of fidelity and obedience, and such 
an example of it, will have more influence than half an hour's 
scolding about whispering without leave, or a dozen public 
punishments. At least so I found it, for I have tried both. 

Show then continually that you see and enjoy the beauty 
of system and strict discipline, and that you submit to law 
yourself as well as require submission of others. 

(6.) Lead your pupils to see that they must share with you 
the credit or the disgrace which success or failure in the man- 
agement of the school may bring. Lead them to feel this, 
not by telling them so, for there are very few things which 
can be impressed upon children by direct efforts to impress 
them, but by so speaking of the subject, from time to time, 
as to lead them to see that you understand it so. 

Repeat, with judicious caution, what is said of the school, 
both for and against it, and thus endeavor to interest the 
scholars in its public reputation. This feeling of interest in 
the institution may very easily be awakened. It sometimes 
springs up spontaneously, and, where it is not guided aright 
by the teacher, sometimes produces very bad effects upon the 
minds of the pupils in rival institutions. \A'lien two schools 
are situated near each other, evil consequences will result 
from this feeling, unless the teacher manages it so as to de- 
duce good consequences. I recollect that in my boyish days 
there was a standing quarrel between the boys of a town 
school and an academy which were in the same village. We 
were all ready at any time, when out of school, to fight for 
the honor of our respective institutions, each for his own. but 
very few were ready to be diligent and faithful v/hen in it, 



MORAL DISCIPUNE. 147 

though it would seem that that might have been rather a 
more eiFectual means of establishing the point. If the schol- 
ars are led to understand that the school is to a great extent 
their institution, that they must assist to sustain its charac- 
ter, and that they share the honor of its excellence, if any 
honor is acquired, a feeling will prevail in the school which 
may be turned to a most useful account. 

(7.) In giving instruction on moral duty, the subject should 
generally be taken up in reference to imaginary cases, or cases 
which are unknown to most of the scholars. If this is done, 
the pupils feel that the object of bringing up the subject is to 
do good; whereas, if questions of moral duty are only intro- 
duced from time to time, when some prevailing or accidental 
fault in school calls for reproof, the feeling will be that the 
teacher is only endeavoring to remove from his own path a 
source of inconvenience and trouble. The most successful 
mode of giving general moral instruction that I have known, 
and which has been adopted in many schools with occasional 
variations of form, is the following : 

When the time has arrived, a subject is assigned, and 
small papers are distributed to the whole school, that all may 
write something concerning it. These are then read and 
commented on by the teacher, and become the occasion of 
any remarks which he may wish to make. The interest of 
the pupils is strongly excited to hear the papers read, and 
the instruction which the teacher may give produces a deeper 
effect when ingrafted thus upon something which originates 
in the minds of the pupils. 

To take a particular case. A teacher addresses his schol- 
ars thus : " The subject for the moral exercise to-day is Prej- 
udice. Each one may take one of the papers which have 
been distributed, and you may "vvi'itc upon them any thing 
you please relating to the subject. As many as have thought 
of any thing to write may raise their hands." 

One or two only of the older scholars gave the signal. 



148 THE TEACIIEi?. 

"I will mention the kinds of communications you can 
make, and perhaps what I say will suggest something to 
you. As fast as you think of any thing, you may raise your 
hands, and as soon as I see a sufiicient number up, I will 
give directions to begin. 

" You can describe any case in which you have been prej- 
udiced yourselves either against persons or things." 

Here a number of the hands went up. 

" You can mention any facts relating to antipathies of any 
kind, or any cases where you know other persons to be prej- 
udiced. You can ask any questions in regard to the subject 
— questions about the nature of prejudice, or the causes of it, 
or the remedy for it." 

As he said this, many hands were successively raised, and 
at last directions were given for all to begin to write. Five 
minutes were allowed, and at the end of that time the pa- 
pers were collected and read. The following specimens, tran- 
scribed verbatim from the originals, vdth the remarks made 
as nearly as could be remembered immediately after the ex- 
ercise, will give an idea of the ordinary operation of this plan. 

" I am very much prejudiced against spiders and every insect in the 
known world with scarcely an exception. There is a horrid sensation 
created by their ugly forms that makes me wish them all to Jericho. 
The butterfly's wings are pretty, but he is dreadful ugly. There is no 
affectation in this, for my pride will not permit me to show this preju- 
dice to any great degree when I can help it. I do not fear the little 
wretches, but I do hate them. Anti-Spider-Sparer." 

" This is not expressed very well ; the phrases ' to Jericho' 
and ' dreadful ugly' are vulgar, and not in good taste. Such 
a dislike, too, is more commonly called an antipathy than a 
prejudice, though perhaps it comes under the general head 
of prejudices." 

" How may we overcome prejudice 1 I think that when we are prej:^ 
udiced against a person, it is the hardest thing in the world to over- 
come it." 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 149 

"A prejudice is usually founded on some unpleasant as- 
sociation connected with the subject of it. The best way to 
overcome the prejudice, therefore, is to connect some pleas- 
ant association with-it. 

" For example (to take the case of the antipathy to the 
spider, alluded to in the last article), the reason why that 
young lady dislikes spiders is undoubtedly because she has 
some unpleasant idea associated wdth the thought of that an- 
imal, perhaps, for example, the idea of their crawling upon 
her, which is certainly not a very pleasant one for any body. 
Now the way to correct such a prejudice is to try to connect 
some pleasant thoughts w4th the sight of the animal. 

" I once found a spider in an empty apartment hanging in 
its web on the wall, with a large ball of eggs which it had 
suspended by its side. My companion and myself cautiously 
brought up a tumbler under the w^eb, and pressed it suddenly 
against the wall, so as to inclose both spider and eggs wdthin 
it. We then contrived to run in a pair of shears, so as to 
cut oiF the web, and let both the animal and its treasure fall 
down into the tumbler. We put a book over the top, and 
walked off with our prize to a table to see w^hat the spider 
would do. 

" At first it tried to climb up the side of the tumbler, but 
its feet slipped on account of the smoothness of the glass. We 
then inclined the glass so as to favor its climbing, and to en- 
able it to reach the book at the top. As soon as it touched 
the book, it w^as safe. It could cling to the book easily, and 
we placed the tumbler again upright to watch its motions. 

" It attached a thread to the book, and let itself do^^'n by 
it to the bottom of the tumbler, and walked round and round 
the ball of eggs, apparently in great trouble. Presently it 
ascended by its thread, and then came down again. It at- 
tached a new thread to the ball, and then went up, drawing 
the ball with it. It hung the ball at a proper distance from 
the book, and bound it firmly in its place by threads running 



150 



THE TEACHER. 



from it ill every direction to the parts of the book wliich were 
near, and then the animal took its place quietly by its side. 
"Now I do not say that if any body had a strong antipa- 
thy to a spider, seeing one perform such a work as this would 
entirely remove it, but it would certainly soften it. It would 
tend to remove it. It would connect an interesting and pleas- 
ant association with the object. So if she should watch a 
spider in the fields making his web. You have all seen those 
beautiful regular webs in the morning dew ("Yes, sir;" 







s. ^l^--^ 
^4^^^-^ ^ 



"Yes, sir"), composed of concentric circles, and radii diverg- 
ing in every direction. ("Yes, sir.") "Well, watch a spider 
when making one of these, or observe his artful ingenuity 
and vigilance when he is lying in wait for a fly. By thus 
connecting pleasant ideas with the sight of the animal, you 
will destroy the unpleasant association which constitutes the 
prejudice. In the same manner, if I wished to create an an- 
tipathy to a spider in a child, it would be very easily done. 
I would tie her hands behind her, and put three or four upon 
her to crawl over her face. 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 151 

" Thus you must destroy prejudices in all cases by con- 
necting pleasant thoughts and associations with the objects 
of them." 

"■ I am very often prejudiced against new scholars without knowing 
•yvhy." 

" We sometimes hear a person talk in this way : ' I do not 
like such or such a person at all.' 

"'Why?' 

" ' Oh, I don't know ; I do not like her at all. I can't bear 
her.' 

" * But why not ? What is your objection to her V 

" ' Oh, I don't know ; I have not any particular reason, 
but I never did like her.' 

" Now, whenever you hear any person talk so, you may be 
sure that her opinion on any subject is worth nothing at all. 
She forms opinions in one case without grounds, and it de- 
pends merely upon accident whether she does or not in other 
cases." 

*' Why is it that so many of our countrymen are, or seem to be, prej- 
udiced against the unfortunate children of Africa? Almost every larc^e 
lohite boy who meets a small black boy insults him in some way or other." 

" It is so hard to overcome prejudices, that we ought to be careful hov/ 
we form them." 

" When I see a new scholar enter this school, and she does not hap- 
pen to suit me exactly in her ways and manners, I very often get prej- 
udiced against her ; though sometimes I find her a valuable friend after 
I get acquainted with her." 

" There is an inquiiy I should like very much to make, 
though I suppose it would not be quite right to make it. I 
should like to ask all those who have some particular friend 
in school, and who can recollect the impression Avhich the 
individual made upon them when they first saw her, to rise, 
and then I should like to inquire in how many cases the first 
impression was favorable, and in how many unfavorable." 

" Yes, sir ;" " Yes, sir." 



-152 THE TEACHER. 

" Do you mean you would like to have the inquiry made?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"All, then, who have intimate friends, and can recollect 
the impression which they first made upon them, may rise." 

[About thirty rose ; more than two thirds of whom voted 
that the first impression made by the persons who had since 
become their particular friends was unfavorable.] 

" This shows how much dependence you can justly place 
on first impressions." 

" It was the next Monday morning after I had attained the wise age 
of four years that I was called up into my mother's room, and told that 
I was the next day going to school. 

" I called forth all my reasoning powers, and with all the ability of a 
child of four years, I reasoned with my mother, but to no purpose. I 
told her that I hated the school-mistress then, though I had never seen 
her. The very first day I tottered under the weight of the mighty fool's- 
cap. I only attended her school two quarters ; with prejudice I went, 
and with prejudice I came away, 

" The old school-house is now torn down, and a large brick house 
takes the place of it. But I never pass by without remembering my 
teacher. I am prejudiced to [against] the very spot." 

" Is it not right to allow prejudice to have influence over our minds 
as far as this 1 If any thing comes to our knowledge with which wrong 
seems to be connected, and one in whom we have always felt confidence 
is engaged in it, is it not right to allow our prejudice in favor of this 
individual to have so much influence over us as to cause us to believe 
that all is really right, though every circumstance which has come to 
our knowledge is against such a conclusion ^ I felt this influence, not 
many weeks since, in a very great degree." 

"The disposition to judge favorably of a fraud in such a 
case would not be prejudice ; or, at least, if it were so, it 
would not be a sufhcient ground to justify us in withholding 
blame. Well-grounded confidence in such a person, if there 
was reason for it, ought to have such an effect, but not prej- 
udice." 

The above may be considered as a fair specimen of the or» 



MOKAL DISCIPLINE. lo3 

dinary operation of such an exercise. It is taken as an illus- 
tration, not by selection, from the large number of similar 
exercises which I have witnessed, but simjDly because it was 
an exercise occurring at the time when a description was to 
be written. Besides the articles quoted above, there were 
thirty or forty others which were read and commented on. 
The above will, however, be sufficient to give the reader a 
clear idea of the exercise, and to show what is the nature of 
the moral effect it is calculated to produce. 

The subjects which may be advantageously brought for- 
ward in such a way are, of course, very numerous. They 
are such as the following : 

1. Duties to Parents. — Anecdotes of good or bad conduct at home. 
Questions. Cases where it is most difficult to obey. Dialogues between 
parents and children. Excuses which are often made for disobedience. 

2. Selfishness. — Cases of selfishness any of the pupils have observed. 
Dialogues they have heard exhibiting it. Questions about its nature. 
Indications of selfishness. 

3. Faults of the School. — Any bad practices the scholars may have 
observed in regard to general deportment, recitations, habits of study, 
or the scholars' treatment of one another. Each scholar may write what 
is his own greatest trouble in school, and whether he thinks any thing 
can be done to remove it. Any thing they think can be improved in 
the management of the school by the teacher. Unfavorable things they 
have heard said about it out of school, though without names. 

4. Excellences of the School. — Good practices which ought to be 
persevered in. Any little incidents the scholars may have noticed illus- 
trating good character. Cases which have occurred in which scholars 
have done right in temptation, or when others around were doing wrong. 
Favorable reports in regard to the school in the community around. 

5. The Sabbath. — Any thing the scholars may have known to be 
done on the Sabbath which they doubt whether right or wrong. Ques- 
tions in regard to the subject. Various opinions they have heard ex- 
pressed. Difficulties they have in regard to proper ways of spending 
the Sabbath. 

(8.) We have one other method to describe by which a 
favorable moral influence may be exerted in school. The 
method can, however, go into full effect only where there are 

G2 



154 THE TEACHER. 

several pupils who have made considerable advances in men- 
tal cultivation. 

It is to provide a way by which teachers and pnpils may 
write anonymously for the school. This may be done by 
having a place of deposit for such articles as may be written, 
where any person may leave what he wishes to have read, 
nominating by a memorandum upon the article itself the 
reader. If a proper feeling on the subject of good discipline 
and the formation of good character prevails in school, many 
articles, which will have a great deal of effect upon the pu- 
pils, will find their way through such an avenue once opened. 
The teacher can himself often bring forward in this way his 
suggestions with more effect than he otherwise could do. 
Such a plan is, in fact, like the plan of a newspaper for an 
ordinary community, where sentiments and opinions stand 
on their own basis, and influence the community just in pro- 
portion to their intrinsic merits, unassisted by the authority 
of the writer's name, and unimpeded by any prejudice which 
may exist against him. 

The following articles, which were really offered for such 
a purpose in the Mount Vernon school, will serve as speci- 
mens to illustrate the actual operation of the plan. One or 
two of them were written by teachers. I do not know the 
authors of the others. I do not offer them as remarkable 
compositions : every teacher wall see that they are not so. 
The design of inserting them is merely to show that the or- 
dinary Hterary ability to be found in every school may be 
turned to useful account by simply opening a channel for it, 
and to furnish such teachers as may be inclined to try the 
experiment the means of making the plan clearly understood 
by their pupils. 

MAKKS OF A BAD SCHOLAR. 

" At the time when she should be ready to take her seat 
at school, she commences preparation for leaving home. To 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 155 

the extreme annoyance of those about her, all is now hurry, 
and bustle, and ill-humor. Thorough search is to be made 
for every book or paper for which she has occasion ; some 
are found in one place, some in another, and others are for- 
gotten altogether. Being finally equipped, she casts her eye 
at the clock, hopes to be in tolerable good season (notwith- 
standing that the hour for opening the school has already ar- 
rived), and sets out in the most violent huny. 

" After so much haste, she is unfitted for attending prop- 
erly to the duties of the school until a considerable time after 
her arrival. If present at the devotional exercises, she finds 
it difiicult to command her attention even when desirous of 
so doing, and her deportment at this hour is, accordingly, 
marked with an unbecoming listlessness and abstraction. 

" When called to recitations, she recollects that some task 
was assigned, which, till that moment, she had forgotten ; of 
others she had mistaken the extent, most commonly thinking 
them to be shorter than her companions suppose. In her 
answers to questions with which she should be familiar, she 
always manifests more or less of hesitation, and what she 
ventures to express is very commonly in the form of a ques- 
tion. In these, as in all exercises, there is an inattention to 
general instructions. Unless what is said be addi'essed par- 
ticularly to herself, her eyes are directed toward another part 
of the room ; it may be, her thoughts are employed about 
something not at all connected with the school. If reproved 
by her teacher for negligence in any respects, she is generally 
provided with an abundance of excuses, and however mild 
the reproof, she receives it as a piece of extreme severity. 

" Throughout her whole deportment there is an air of in- 
dolence and a want of interest in those exercises which should 
engage her attention. In her seat, she most commonly sits 
in some lazy posture — either with her elbows upon her desk, 
her head leaning upon her hands, or with her seat tipped for- 
ward or backward. When she has occasion to leave her seat, 



loO THE TEACHER. 

it is in a sauntering, lingering gait — perhaps some trick is con- 
trived on the Avay for exciting the mirth of her companions. 
" About every thing in which it is possible to be so, she is 
untidy. Her books are carelessly used, and placed in her 
desk without order. If she has a piece of waste paper to 
dispose of, she finds it much more convenient to tear it into 
small i^ieces and scatter it about her desk, than to put it in a 
proper place. Her hands and clothes are usually covered 
with ink. Her written exercises are blotted and full of 
mistakes." 

THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEING BEHINDHAND. 

" The following incident, which I witnessed on a late jour- 
ney, illustrates an important principle, and I will relate it. 

"When our steam-boat started from the wharf, all our 
passengers had not come. After we had proceeded a few- 
yards, there appeared among the crowd on the wharf a man 
with his trunk under his arm, out of breath, and with a 
most disappointed and disconsolate air. The captain determ- 
ined to stop for him ; but stopping an immense steam-boat, 
moving swiftly through the water, is not to be done in r. 
moment ; so we took a grand sweep, wheeling majestically , 
around an English ship which was at anchor in the harbor. 
As we came toward the Avharf again, we saw the man in a 
small boat coming off from it. As the steam-boat swept 
round, they barely succeeded in catching a rope from the 
stern, and then immediately the steam-engine began its work 
again, and we pressed forward, the little boat following us so 
swiftly that the water around her was all in a foam. 

" They pulled upon the rope attached to the little boat 
until they drew it alongside. They then let down a rope, 
with a hook in the end of it, from an iron crane which pro- 
jected over the side of the steam-boat, and hooked it into a 
staple in the front of the small boat. ' Hoist away !' said the 
captain. The sailors hoisted, and the front part of the little 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 157 

boat began to rise, the stern plowing and foaming through the 
water, and the man still in it, with his trunk under his arm. 
They ' hoisted away' until I began to think that the poor 
man would actually tumble out behind. He clung to the 
seat, and looked as though he was saying to himself, ' I will 
take care how I am tardy the next time.' However, after a 
while, they hoisted up the stern of the boat, and he got safely 
on board. 

^^ Moral — Though coming to school a few minutes earlier 
or later may not in itself be a matter of much consequence, 
yet the habit of being five minutes too late, if once formed, 
will, in actual life, be a source of great inconvenience, and 
sometimes of lasting injury." 

NEW SCHOLARS. 

" There is at a young ladies' school, taught by IMr, 



" But, with all these excellences, there is one fault, which 
I considered a great one, and which does not comport with 
the general character of the school for kindness and good 
feeKng. It is the little effort made by the scholars to become 
acquainted with the new ones who enter. Whoever goes 
there must push herself forward, or she will never feel at 
home. The young ladies seem to forget that the new-comer 
must feel rather unpleasantly in the midst of a hundred per- 
sons to whom she is wholly a stranger, and with no one to 
speak to. Two or three will stand together, and instead of 
deciding upon some plan by which the individual may be 
made to feel at ease, something like the following conversa- 
tion takes place : 

'^Miss X. How do you like the looks of Miss A., who en- 
tered school to-day? 

"J//SS T. I don't think she is very pretty, but she looks as 
if she might be a good scholar. 



158 THE TEACHER. 

^^Miss X, She does not strike me veiy pleasantly. Did you 
ever see such a face? And her complexion is so dark, I 
should think she had always lived in the open air ; and what 
a queer voice she has ! 

^'Miss Y. I wonder if she has a taste for Arithmetic? 

^'Miss X. She does not look as if she had much taste for 
any thing. See how strangely she arranges her hair ! 

''■Miss S. Whether she has much taste or not, some one of 
us ought to go and get acquainted with her. See how un- 
pleasantly she feels ! 

"J//6S X. I don't want to get acquainted with her until I 
know whether I shall like her or not. 

" Thus nothing is done to relieve her. When she does be- 
come acquainted, all her first strange appearance is forgotten ; 
but tliis is sometimes not the case for several weeks. It de- 
pends entirely on the character of the individual herself. If 
she is forward, and willing to make the necessary elFort, she 
can find many friends ; but if she is diffident, she has much 
to suifer. This arises principally from thoughtlessness. The 
young ladies do not seem to realize that there is any thing 
for them to do. They feel enough at home themselves, and 
the remembrance of the time when they entered school does 
not seem to arise in their minds." 

A SATIRICAL SPIRIT. 

" I witnessed, a short time since, a meeting between two 
friends, who had had but little intercourse before for a long- 
while. I thought a part of their conversation might be use- 
ful, and I shall therefore relate it, as nearly as I can recol- 
lect, leaving each individual to draw her own inferences. 

" For some time I sat silent, but not uninterested, while 
the days of ' Auld Lang Syne' came up to the remembrance 
of the two friends. After speaking of several individuals 
who were among their former acquaintances, one asked, ' Do 
you remember Miss W. V ' Yes,' replied the former, ' I re- 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 159 

member her as the fear, terror, and abhorrence of all who 
knew her.' / knew the ladj by report, and asked why she 
was so regarded. The reply was, ' Because she was so se- 
vere, so satirical in her remarks upon others. She spared 
neither friend nor foe.' 

" The friends resumed their conversation. ' Did you know,' 
said the one who had first spoken of Miss W., 'that she 
sometimes had seasons of bitter repentance for indulging in 
this unhappy propensity of hers ? She would, at such times, 
resolve to be more on her guard, but, after all her good reso- 
lutions, she would yield to the slightest temptations. When 
she was expressing, and apparently really feeling sorrow for 
having wounded the feelings of others, those who knew her 
would not venture to express any sympathy, for, very likely, 
the next moment tJiat would be turned into ridicule. No 
confidence could be placed in her.' 

" A few more facts will be stated respecting the same in- 
dividual, which I believe are strictly true. Miss W. pos- 
sessed a fine and well-cultivated mind, great penetration, and 
a tact at discriminating character rarely equaled. She could, 
if she chose, impart a charm to her conversation that would 
interest and even fascinate those who listened to it ; still, she 
was not beloved. Weaknesses and foibles met with unmer- 
ciful severity, and well-meaning intentions and kind actions 
did not always escape without the keen sarcasm which it is 
so difficult for the best regulated mind to bear unmoved. 
The mild and gentle seemed to shrink from her ; and thus she, 
who might have been the bright and beloved ornament of 
the circle in which she moved, was regarded with distrust, 
fear, and even hatred. This dangerous habit of making sa- 
tirical remarks was evinced in childhood ; it was cherished ; 
it ' grew with her growth, and strengthened with her strength,' 
until she became what I have described. Laura." 

Though such a satirical spirit is justly condemned, a little 



160 THE TEACHEK. 

good-humored raillery may sometimes be allowed as a mode 
of attacking faults in school which can not be reached by 
graver methods. The teacher must not be surprised if some 
things connected with his own administration come in some- 
times for a share. 

VARIETY. 

" I was walking out a few days since, and not being par- 
ticularly in haste, I concluded to visit a certain school for an 
hour or two. In a few minutes after I had seated myself on 
the sofa, the ' Study Card'' was dropped, and the general noise 
and confusion indicated that recess had arrived. A line of 
military characters, bearing the title of the ' Freedom's Band,' 
was soon called out, headed by one of their own number. 
The tune chosen to guide them was Kendall's March. 

" 'Please to form a regular line,' said the lady commander. 
' Remember that there is to be no speaking in the ranks. Do 
not begin to step until I strike the bell. Miss B., I request- 
ed you not to step until I gave the signal.' 

"Presently the command was given, and the whole line 
stepped for a few minutes to all intents and purposes. Again 
the bell sounded. ' Some of you have lost the step,' said the 
general. ' Look at me, and begin again. Left ! right ! left ! 
right !' The line was once more in order, and I observed a 
new army on the opposite side of the room, performing the 
same manoeuvres, always to the tune of ' Kendall's March.' 
After a time the recess closed, and order was again restored. 
In about half an hour I approached a class which was recit- 
ing behind the railing. 'IVIiss A.,' said a teacher, ' how many 
kinds of magnitude are there f Miss A. (Answer inaudible.) 
Several voices. ' We can't hear.' Teacher. ' Will you try to 
speak a little louder. Miss A. V 

" Some of the class at length seemed to guess the meaning 
of the young lady, but / was unable to do even that until 
the answer was repeated by the teacher. Finding that I 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 161 

should derive little instruction from the recitation, I returned 
to the sofa. 

" In a short time the iwopositions were read. ' Proposed, 
that the committee be impeached for not providing suitable 
pens.' ' Lost, a pencil, with a piece of India-rubber attached 
to it by a blue ribbon,' &c., &c. 

"Recess was again announced, and the lines commenced 
their evolutions to the tune of ' Kendall's March.' Thought 
I, ' Oh that there were a new tune under the sun !' 

" Before the close of school some compositions were read. 
One was entitled 'The Magic Ring,' and commenced, 'As I 
was sitting alone last evening, I heard a gentle tap on the 
door, and immediately a beautiful fairy appeared before me. 
She placed a ring on my finger, and left me.' The next be- 
gan, ' It is my week to write composition, but I do not know 
what to say. However, I must write something, so it shall 
be a dialogue.' Another was entitled the 'Magical Shoe,' 
and contained a marvelous narration of adventures made in 
a pair of shoes more valuable than the far-famed 'seven- 
league boots.' A fourth began, 'Are you acquainted with 
that new scholar f 'No; but I don't believe I shall like 
her.' And soon the 'Magical Thimble,' the 'Magical Eye- 
glass,' &c., were read in succession, until I could not but ex- 
claim, 'How pleasing is variety!' School was at length 
closed, and the young ladies again attacked the piano. ' Oh,' 
repeated I to myself, ' hoiv pleasing is variety /' as I left the 
room to the tune of Kendall's March." 

By means like these, and others similar to them, it will 
not be difficult for any teacher to obtain so far an ascendency 
over the minds of his pupils as to secure an overwhelming 
majority in favor of good order and co-operation with him 
in his plans for elevating the character of the school. But 
let it be distinctly understood that this, and this only, has 
been the object of this chapter thus far. The first point 



162 THE TEACHER. 

brought up was the desirableness of making at first a favor- 
able impression ; the second, the necessity of taking general 
views of the condition of the school, and aiming to improve 
it in the mass, and not merely to rebuke or punish accidental 
faults ; and the third, the importance and the means of gain- 
ing a general influence and ascendency over the minds of the 
pupils. But, though an overwhelming majority can be reach- 
ed by such methods as these, all can not. We must have the 
majority secured, however, in order to enable us to reach and 
to reduce the others. But to this work we must come at last. 
4. I am, therefore, now to consider, under a fourth gener- 
al head, what course is to be taken with individual offenders 
whom the general influences of the school-room will not con- 
trol. 

The teacher must always expect that there wall be such 
cases. They are always to be found in the best and most 
skillfully-managed schools. The following suggestions will 
perhaps assist the teacher in dealing with them. 

(1.) The first point to be attended to is to ascertain who 
they are. Not by appearing suspiciously to watch any in- 
dividuals, for this would be almost sufficient to make them 
bad, if they were not so before. Observe, however ; notice, 
from day to day, the conduct of individuals, not for the pur- 
pose of reproving or punishing their faults, but to enable you 
to understand their characters. This work will often require 
great adroitness and very close scrutiny, and you will find, 
as the results of it, a considerable variety of character, which 
the general influences above described will not be sufficient 
to control. The number of individuals will not be great, 
but the diversity of character comprised in it will be such as 
to call into exercise all your powers of vigilance and discrim- 
ination. On one seat you will find a coarse, rough-looking 
boy, who openly disobeys your commands and opposes your 
wishes while in school, and makes himself a continual source 
of trouble and annoyance during play-hours by bullying and 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 



103 




± 



hectoring every gentle and timid schoolmate. On another 
sits a more sly rogue, Avhose demure and submissive look is 
assumed to conceal a mischief-making disposition. Here is 
one whose giddy spirit is always leading him into difficulty, 
but who is of so open and frank a disposition that you will 
most easily lead him back to duty ; but there is another who, 
when reproved, will fly into a passion ; and then a third, 
who will stand sullen and silent before you when he has done 
wrong, and is not to be touched by kindness nor awed by 
authority. 

Now all these characters must be studied. It is true that 
the caution given in a preceding part of this chapter, against 
devoting undue and disproportionate attention to such per- 
sons, must not be forgotten. Still, these individuals will re- 
quire, and it is right that they should receive, a far greater 
degree of attention, so far as the moral administration of the 
school is concerned, than their mere numbers would appear 
to justify. This is the field in which the teacher is to study 
human nature, for here it shows itself without disguise. It 
is through this class, too, that a very powerful moral influ- 
ence is to be exerted upon the rest of the school. The man- 
ner in which such individuals are managed, the tone the 
teacher assumes toward them, the gentleness with which he 
speaks of their faults, and the unbending decision with which 



164 THE TEACHER. 

he restrains them from wrong, ^vill have a most powerful 
eftect upon the rest of the school. That he may occupy this 
field, therefore, to the best advantage, it is necessary that he 
should first thoroughly explore it. 

By understanding the dispositions and characters of such a 
class of pupils as I have described, I do not mean merely 
Avatching them with vigilance in school, so that none of their 
transgressions shall go unobserved and unpunished. I intend 
a far deeper and more thorough examination of character. 
Every boy has something or other which is good in his dis- 
position and character which he is aware of, and on which 
he prides himself; find out what it is, for it may often be 
made the foundation on which you may build the superstruct- 
ure of reform. Every one has his peculiar sources of enjoy- 
ment and objects of pursuit, which are before his mind from 
day to day. Find out what they are, that by taking an in- 
terest in what interests him, and perhaps sometimes assisting 
him in his plans, you can bind him to you. Every boy is, 
from the circumstances in which he is placed at home, ex- 
posed to temptations which have perhaps had far gi^eater in- 
fluence in the formation of his character than any deliberate 
and intentional depravity of his own ; ascertain what these 
temptations are, that you may know where to pity him and 
where to blame. The knowledge which such an examination 
of character will give you, will not be confined to making you 
acquainted with the individual. It will be the most valuable 
knowledge which a man can possess, both to assist him in the 
general administration of the school and in his intercourse 
among mankind in the business of life. Men are but boys, 
only with somewhat loftier objects of pursuit. Their prin- 
ciples, motives, and ruUng passions are essentially the same. 
Extended commercial speculations are, so far as the human 
heart is concerned, substantially what trading in jack-knives 
and toys is at school, and building a snow fort, to its own 
architects, the same as erecting a monument of marble. 



MORAL LUSCIPLINE. 165 

(2.) After exploring the ground, the first thing to be done 
as a preparation for reforming individual character in school 
is to secure the personal attachment of the individuals to be 
reformed. This must not be attempted by professions and 
affected smiles, and still less by that sort of obsequiousness, 
common in such cases, which produces no effect but to make 
the bad boy suppose that his teacher is afraid of him ; which, 
by the way, is, in fact, in such cases, usually true. Approach 
the pupil in a bold and manly, but frank and pleasant man- 
ner. Approach him as his superior, but still as his friend ; 
desirous to make him liappy, not merely to obtain his good- 
will. And the best wa,y to secure these appearances is just 
to secure the reality. Actually be the boy's friend. Really 
desire to make him happy — happy, too, in his own way, not 
in yours. Feel that you are his superior, and that you must 
and will enforce obedience ; but with this, feel that probably 
obedience will be rendered without any contest. If these are 
really the feelings which reign within you, the boy will see 
it, and they will exert a strong influence over him ; but you 
can not counterfeit appearances. 

A most effectual way to secure the good-will of a scholar 
is to ask him to assist you. The Creator has so formed the 
human heart that doing good must be a source of pleasure, 
and he who tastes this pleasure once will almost always wish 
to taste it again. To do good to any individual creates or 
increases the desire to do it. 

There is a boy in your school who is famous for his skill 
in making whistles from the green branches of the poplar. 
He is a bad boy, and likes to turn his ingenuity to purposes 
of mischief. You observe him some day in school, when he 
thinks your attention is engaged in another way, blowing 
softly upon one which he has concealed in his desk for the 
purpose of amusing his neighbors without attracting the at- 
tention of the teacher. Now there are two remedies. Will 
you try the physical one 1 Then call him out into the floor. 



166 THE TEACHEi;. 

inflict painful punishment, and send him smarting to his 
seat, with his heart full of anger and revenge, to plot some 
new and less dangerous scheme of annoyance. Will you try 
the moral one ? Then wait till the recess, and while he is 
out at his play, send a message out by another boy, saying 
that you have heard he is very skillful in making whistles, 
and asking him to make one for you to carry home to a lit- 
tle child at your boarding-house. What would, in ordinary 
cases, be the effect? It Avould certainly be a very simple 
application, but its effect would be to open an entirely new 
train of thought and feeling for the boy. "What!" he would 
say to himself, while at work on his task, "give the master 
pleasure by making whistles ! Who vv'ould have conceived 
of it ? I never thought of any thing but giving him trouble 
and pain. I wonder who told him I could make whistles'?" 
He would find, too, that the new enjoyment was far higher 
and purer than the old, and would have little disposition to 
return to the latter. 

I do not mean by this illustration that such a measure as 
this would be the only notice that ought to be taken of such 
an act of willful disturbance in school. Probably it would 
not. What measures in direct reference to the fault com- 
mitted would be necessary would depend upon the circum- 
stances of the case. It is not necessary to our purpose that 
they should be described here. 

The teacher can awaken in the hearts of his pupils a per- 
sonal attachment for him by asking in various ways their as- 
sistance in school, and then appearing honestly gratified with 
the assistance rendered. Boys and girls are delighted to have 
what powers and attainments they possess brought out into 
action, especially where they can lead to useful results. They 
love to be of some consequence in the world, and will be es- 
pecially gratified to be able to assist their teacher. Even if 
the studies of a turbulent boy are occasionally interrupted 
for half an liour, tliat he might help you arrange papers, or 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 1G7 

rule books, or distribute exercises, it will be time well spent. 
Get him to co-operate with you in anj thing, and he will 
feel how much more pleasant it is to co-operate than to 
thwart and oppose; and, by judicious measures of this kind, 
almost any boy may be brought over to your side. 

Another means of securing the personal attachment of 
boys is to notice them, to take an interest in then' pursuits, 
and the qualities and powers which they value in one an- 
other. It is astonishing what an influence is exerted by such 
little circumstances as stopping at a play-ground a moment 
to notice with interest, though perhaps without saying a 
word, speed of running, or exactness of aim, the force with 
which a ball is struck, or the dexterity with which it is 
caught or thrown. The teacher must, indeed, in all his in- 
tercourse with his pupils, never forget his station, nor allow 
them to lay aside the respect, without which authority can 
not be maintained. But he may be, notwithstanding this, 
on the most intimate and familiar footing with them all. He 
may take a strong and open interest in all their enjoyments, 
and thus awaken on their part a personal attachment to him- 
self, which will exert over them a constant and powerful 
control. 

(3.) The efforts described under the last head for gaining 
a personal influence over those who, from their disposition 
and character, are most in danger of doing wrong, will not be 
sufficient entirely to prevent transgression. Cases of delib- 
erate, intentional wrong will occur, and the question will 
rise, What is the duty of the teacher in such an emergency "? 
When such cases occur, the course to be taken is, first of all, 
to come to a distinct understanding on the subject with the 
guilty individual. Think of the case calmly, until you have 
obtained just and clear ideas of it. Endeavor to understand 
precisely in what the guilt of it consists. Notice every pal- 
liating circumstance, and take as favorable a view of the 
thing as you can, while, at the same time, you fix most firm.- 



168 THE TEACHER. 

\y in your mind the determination to put a stop to it. Then 
go to the individual, and hiy the subject before him, for the 
purpose of understanding distinctly from his own lips what 
he intends to do. I can, however, as usual, explain more 
fully what I mean by describing a particular case, substan- 
tially true. 

The teacher of a school observed himself, and learned from 
several quarters, that a certain boy was in the habit of caus- 
ing disturbance during time of prayer, at the opening and 
close of school, by whispering, playing, making gestures to 
the other boys, and throwing things about from seat to seat. 
The teacher's first step was to speak of the subject generally 
before the whole school, not alluding, however, to any par- 
ticular instance which had come under his notice. These 
general remarks produced, as he expected, but little effect. 

He waited for some days, and the difficulty still continued. 
Had the irregularity been very great, it would have been nec- 
essary to have taken more immediate measures, but he thought 
the case admitted of a little delay. In the mean time, he 
took pains to cultivate the acquaintance of the boy, to dis- 
cover, and to show that he noticed, what was good in his 
character and conduct, occasionally to ask some assistance 
from him, and thus to gain some personal ascendency over him. 

One day, when every thing had gone smoothly and pros- 
perously, the teacher told the boy, at the close of the school, 
that he wished to talk with him a little, and asked him to 
walk home with him. It was not uncommon for the teach- 
er to associate thus with his pupils out of school, and this re- 
quest, accordingly, attracted no special attention. On the 
walk the teacher thus accosted the criminal : 

" Do you like frank, open dealing, James "?" 

James hesitated a moment, and then answered, faintly, 

" Yes, sir." 

"Most boys do, and I do, and I supposed that you would 
prefer being treated in that v/ay. Do youf 



MOKAL DISCIPLINE. 169 

"Yes, sir." 

" Well, I am going to tell you of one of your faults. I 
have asked you to walk with me, because I supposed it would 
be more agreeable for you to have me see you privately than 
to bring it up in school." 

James said it would be more agreeable. 

" Well, the fault is being disorderly at prayer-time. Now, 
if you like frank and open dealing, and are willing to deal so 
with me, I should like to talk with you a little about it, but 
if you are not willing, I will dismiss the subject. I do not 
wish to talk with you now about it unless you yourself de- 
sire it ; but if we talk at all, we must both be open, and 
honest, and sincere. Now, should you rather have me talk 
with you or not?" 

"Yes, sir, I should rather have you talk with me now 
than in school." 

The teacher then described his conduct in a mild manner, 
using the style of simple narration, admitting no harsh epi- 
thets, no terms of reproach. The boy was surprised, for he 
supposed that he had not been noticed. He thought, per- 
haps, that he should have been punished if he had been ob- 
served. The teacher said, in conclusion, 

"Now, James, I do not suppose you have done this from 
any designed irreverence toward God, or deliberate intention 
of giving me trouble and pain. You have several times late- 
ly assisted me in various ways, and I know, from the cheerful 
manner with which you comply with my wishes, that your 
prevailing desire is to give me pleasure, not pain. You have 
fallen into this practice through thoughtlessness, but that 
does not alter the character of the sin. To do so is a great 
sin against God, and a great offense against good order in 
school. You see, yourself, that my duty to the school will 
require me to adopt the most decided measures to prevent 
the continuance and the spread of such a practice. I should 
be imperiously bound to do it, even if the individual was the 

H 



170 THE TEACHER. 

very best friend I had in school, and if the measures neces- 
sary should bring upon him great disgrace and suffering. Do 
you not think it would be so 1" 

"Yes, sir," said James, seriously, *'I suppose it would." 

"I wish to remove the evil, however, in the pleasantest 
way. Do you remember my speaking on this subject in 
school the other day '?" 

"Yes, sir." 

" Well, my object in what I said then was almost entirely 
to persuade you to reform without having to speak to you 
directly. I thought it would be pleasanter to you to be re- 
minded of your duty in that way. But I do not think it did 
you much good. Did it ?' 

"I don't think I have played so 7nucli since then." 

"Nor I. You have improved a little, but you have not 
decidedly and thoroughly reformed. So I was obliged to 
take the next step which would be least unpleasant to you, 
that is, talking with you alone. Now you told me when 
we began that you would deal honestly and sincerely with 
me, if I would with you. I have been honest and open. I 
have told you all about it so far as I am concerned. Now 
I wish you to be honest, and tell me what you are going to 
do. If you think, from this conversation, that you have done 
wrong, and if you are fully determined to do so no more, and 
to break off* at once, and forever, from this practice, I should 
like to have you tell me, and then the whole thing will be 
settled. On the other hand, if you feel about it pretty much 
as you have done, I should like to have you tell me that too, 
honestly and frankly, that we may have a distinct understand- 
mg, and that I may be considering what to do next. I shall 
not be offended with you for giving me either of these answers, 
but be sure that you are honest ; you promised to be so." 

The boy looked up in his master's face, and said, with great 
earnestness, 

" Mr. T., I ivill do better. I will not trouble you any more." 



MORAL DISCIPLINE. 171 

I liave detailed this case thus particularly because it ex- 
hibits clearly what I mean by going directly and frankly to 
the individual, and coming at once to a full understanding. 
In nine cases out of ten this course will be effectual. For 
four years, with a very large school, I found this sufficient 
in every case of discipline which occurred, except in three 
or four instances, where something more was required. To 
make it successful, however, the work must be done proper- 
ly. Several things are necessary. It must be deliberate; 
generally better after a little delay. It must be indulgent, so 
far as the view which the teacher takes of the guilt of the 
pupil is concerned ; every palliating consideration must be 
felt. It must be firm and decided in regard to the necessity 
of a change, and the determination of the teacher to effect it. 
It must also be open and frank; no insinuations, no hints, 
no surmises, but plain, honest, open dealing. 

In many cases the communication may be made most deli- 
cately and most successfully in writing. The more delicately 
you touch the feelings of your pupils, the more tender these 
feelings will become. Many a teacher hardens and stupefies 
the moral sense of his pupils by the harsh and rough expo- 
sures to which he drags out the private feelings of the heart. 
A man may easily produce such a state of feeling in his school- 
room, that to address even the gentlest reproof to any indi- 
vidual, in the hearing of the next, would be a most severe 
punishment ; and, on the other hand, he may so destroy that 
sensitiveness that his vociferated reproaches will be as un- 
heeded as the idle wind. 

If, now, the teacher has taken the course recommended in 
this chapter — if he has, by his general influence in the school, 
done all in his power to bring the majority of his pupils to 
the side of order and discipline — if he has then studied, atten- 
tively and impartially, the characters of those who can not 
thus be led — if he has endeavored to make them his friends, 
and to acquire, by every means, a personal influence over 



172 THE TEACHER. 

them— if, finally, when they do wi-ong, lie goes plainly, but in 
a gentle and delicate manner, to them, and lays before them 
the whole case — if he has done all this, he has gone as far as 
moral influence will carry him. My opinion is, that this 
course, faithfully and judiciously pursued, will, in almost all 
instances, succeed ; but it will not in all ; and where it fails, 
there must be other, and more vigorous and decided measures. 
What these measures of restraint or punishment shall be must 
depend upon the circumstances of the case ; but in resorting 
to them, the teacher must be decided and unbending. 

The course above recommended is not trying lax and in- 
efficient measures for a long time in hopes of their being ulti- 
mately successful, and then, when they are found not to be so, 
changing the policy. There should be, through the whole, 
the tone and manner of authority, not of persuasion. The 
teacher must be a monarch, and, while he is gentle and for- 
bearing, always looking on the favorable side of condijct so 
far as guilt is concerned ; he must have an eagle eye and an 
efficient hand, so far as relates to arresting the evil and stop- 
ping the consequences. He may slowly and cautiously, and 
even tenderly, approach a delinquent. He may be several 
days in gathering around him the circumstances of which he 
is ultimately to avail himself in bringing him to submission ; 
but, while he proceeds thus slowly and tenderly, he must 
come with the air of authority and power. The fact that 
the teacher bases all his plans on the idea of his ultimate 
authority in every case may be perfectly evident to all the 
pupils, while he proceeds with moderation and gentleness in 
all his specific measures. Let it be seen, then, that the con- 
stitution of your school is a monarchy, absolute and unlimit- 
ed ; but let it also be seen that the one who holds the power 
is himself under the control of moral principle in all that he 
does, and that he endeavors to make the same moral princi- 
ple which guides him go as far as it is possible to make it 
go in the government of his subjects. 



RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE. 



173 



CHAPTER V. 



RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE. 

N consequence 
of the unex- 
ampled relig- 
ious freedom 
possessed in 
this country, 
for which it is 
happily distin- 
guished above 
all other coun- 
tries on the 
face of the earth, there 
neces'=!arily results a vast va- 
^''^ riety of religious sentiment 
and action. "We can not enjoy the 
' blessings mthout the inconveniences of free- 
dom. Where every man is alloAved to believe 
f ' ,i i ' . as he pleases, some will, undoubtedly, believe 
( ji ; > ■ wrong, and others will be divided, by embrac- 
'!■ .■ ing views of a subject which are different, though 
:' '' perhaps equally consistent with truth. Hence we 
have among us every shade and every variety of religious 
opinion, and, in many cases, contention and strife, resulting 
from hopeless efforts to produce uniformity. 

A stranger who should come among us would suppose, 
from the tone of our religious journals, and from the general 
aspect of society on the subject of religion, that the whole 
community was divided into a thousand contending sects. 




I 



174 THE TEACHER. 

who hold nothing in common, and whose sole objects are the 
annoyance and destruction of each other. But if we leave 
out of view some hundreds, or, if you please, some thousands 
of theological controversialists who manage the public dis- 
cussions, and say and do all that really comes before the pub- 
lic on this subject, it will be found that there is vastly more 
religious truth admitted by common consent among the peo- 
ple of New England than is generally supposed. This com- 
mon ground I shall endeavor briefly to describe ; for it is 
very plain that the teacher must, in ordinary cases, confine 
himself to it. By common consent, however, I do not mean 
the consent of every body; I mean that of the great majority 
of serious, thinking men. 

But let us examine first, for a moment, what right any 
member of the community has to express and to disseminate 
his opinions with a view to the inquiry whether the teacher 
is really bound to confine himself to what he can do on this 
subject with the common consent of his employers. 

The various monarchical nations of Europe have been for 
many years, as is well known, strongly agitated with ques- 
tions of politics. It is with difficulty that public tranquillity 
is preserved. Every man takes sides. Now, in this state of 
things, a wealthy gentleman residing in one of these coun- 
tries is opposed to the revolutionary projects so constantly 
growing up there, and being, both from principle and feeHng, 
strongly attached to monarchical government, wishes to bring 
up his children with the same feelings which he himself cher- 
ishes. He has a right to do so. No matter if his opinions 
are wrong. Pie ought, it will be generally supposed in this 
country, to be republican. I suppose him to adopt opinions 
which will generally, by my readers, be considered wrong, that 
I may bring more distinctly to view the right he has to edu- 
cate his children as he tJdnhs it proper that they should be 
educated. He may be wrong to foYm such opinions ; but 
the opinions once formed, he has a right, with which no hu- 



RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE, I/O 

man power can justly interfere, to educate his children in 
conformity with those opinions. It is alike the law of God 
and nature that the father should control, as he alone is re- 
sponsible, the education of his child. 

Now, under these circumstances, he employs an American 
mechanic, who is residing in Paris, to come to his house and 
teach his children the use of the lathe. After some time he 
comes into their little work-shop, and is astonished to find the 
lathe standing still, and the boys gathered round the Repub- 
lican turner, who is relating to them stories of the tyranny 
of kings, the happiness of republicans, and the glory of war. 
The parent remonstrates. The mechanic defends himself. 

^'I am a Republican," he says, " upon principle, and wher- 
ever I go I must exert all the influence in my pov/er to pro- 
mote free principles, and to expose the usurpations and the 
tyranny of kings." 

To tliis the monarchist might very properly reply, 

" In your efforts to promote your principles, you are lim- 
ited, or you ought to be limited, to modes that are proper 
and honorable. I employ you for a distinct and specific pur- 
pose, which has nothing to do with questions of government, 
and you ought not to allow your love of republican principles 
to lead you to take advantage of the position in which I place 
you, and interfere with my plans for the political education 
of my children." 

Now for the parallel case. A member of a Congregational 
society is employed to teach a school in a district occupied 
exclusively by Friends — a case not uncommon. He is em- 
ployed there, not as a religious teacher, but for another specific 
and well-defined object. It is for the purpose of teaching the 
children of that district reading, writing, and calculation, and 
for such other purposes analogous to this as the law provid- 
ing for the establishment of district schools contemplated. 
Now, when he is placed -in such a situation, with such a trust 
confided to him, and such duties to discharge, it is not right 



176 THE TEACHER. 

for him to make use of the influence which this official sta- 
tion gives him over the minds of the childi'en committed to 
his care for the accomplishment of any other pw^^oses ivhatever 
which the parents would disapprove. It would not be con- 
sidered right by men of the world to attempt to accomplish 
any other purposes in such a case ; and are the pure and 
holy principles of piety to be extended by methods more ex- 
ceptionable than those by which political and party contests 
are managed *? 

There is a very great and obvious distinction between the 
general influence which the teacher exerts as a member of 
the community and that which he can employ in his school- 
room as teacher. He has unquestionably a right to exert 
u2:>on the community, hy such means as he shares in common with 
every other citizen, as much influence as he can command for 
the dissemination of his own political, or religious, or scien- 
tific opinions. But the strong ascendency which, in conse- 
c]uence of his official station, he has obtained over the minds 
of his pupils, is sacred. He has no right to use it for any 
purpose foreign to the specific objects for which he is employed, 
unless hy the consent, exjjressecl or implied, of those by whom he 
is intrusted with his charge. The parents who send their 
children to him to be taught to read, to Avrite, and to calcu- 
late, may have erroneous views of their duty as parents in 
other respects. He may know that their views are erroneous. 
They may be taking a course which the teacher hioivs is 
wrong. But he has not, on this account, a right to step in 
between the parent and child, to guide the latter according 
to his own opinions, and to violate the wishes and thwart the 
plans of the former. 

God has constituted the relation between the parent and 
the child, and according to any view which a rational man 
can take of this relation, the parent is alone responsible for 
the guidance he gives to that mind, so entirely in his power. 
He is responsible to God ; and where our opinions in regard 



RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE. 177 

to the manner in which any of the duties arising from the 
relation are to be performed, differ from his, we have no right 
to interfere, without his consent, to rectify what we thus im- 
agine to be wrong. I know of but one exception which any 
man whatever would be inclined to make to this principle, 
and that is where the parent would, if left to himself, take 
such a course as would ultimately make his children unsafe 
members of society. The communitij have a right to interfere 
in such a case, as they in fact do by requiring every man to 
provide for the instruction of his children, and in some other 
ways which need not now be specified. Bej^ond this, how- 
ever, no interference contrary to the parent's consent is jus- 
tifiable. Where parents will do wrong, notwithstanding any 
persuasions which wo can address to them, we must not vio- 
late the principles of an arrangement which God has him- 
self made, but must submit patiently to the awful conse- 
quences which will in some cases occur, reflecting that the 
responsibility for these consequences is on the head of those 
who neglect their duty, and that the being who makes them 
liable will settle the account. 

Whatever, then, the teacher attempts to do beyond the 
speci/lc and defined duties which are included among the ob- 
jects for which he is employed, must be done h?/ i^ermission^ — 
by the voluntary consent, whether tacit or openly expressed, 
of those by whom he is employed. This, of course, confines 
him to what is generally common ground among his par- 
ticular employers. In a republican country, where all his 
patrons are republican, he may, without impropriety, explain 
and commend to his pupils, as occasion may occur, the prin- 
ciples of free governments, and the blessings which may be 
expected to flow from them. But it would not be justifiable 
for him to do this under a monarchy, or in a community di- 
vided in regard to this subject, because this question does 
not come within the objects for the promotion of which his 
patrons have associated and employed him, and consequently 
TT'2 



178 THE TEACHER. 

he has no right, while continuing their teacher, to go into it 
without their consent. In the same manner, an Episcopal 
teacher, in a private school formed and supported by Episco- 
palians, may use and commend forms of prayer, and explain 
the various usages of that church, exhibiting their excellence, 
and their adaptation to the purposes for which they are in- 
tended. He may properly do this, because, in the case sup- 
posed, the patrons of the school are united on this subject, 
and their tacit consent may be supposed to be given. But 
place the same teacher over a school of Friends, whose pa- 
rents dislike forms and ceremonies of every kind in religion, 
and his duty would be changed altogether. So, if a Roman 
Catholic is intrusted with the instruction of a common dis- 
trict school in a community composed of many Protestant 
denominations, it would be plainly his duty to avoid all in- 
fluence, direct or indirect, over the minds of his pupils, ex- 
cept in those religious sentiments and opinions which are com- 
mon to himself and all his employers. I repeat the princi- 
ple. He is emj^loyed for a specific j^uiyose, and he has no right 
to wander from that purpose, except as far as he can go with the 
common consent of his employers. 

Now the common ground on religious subjects in this 
country is very broad. There are, indeed, many principles 
which are, in my view, essential parts of Christianity, which 
are subjects of active discussion among us. But, setting these 
aside, there are other principles equally essential, in regard 
to which the whole community are agreed ; or, at least, if 
there is a dissenting minority, it is so small that it is hardly 
to be considered. Let us look at some of these principles. 

1. Our community is agreed that there is a God. There 
is probably not a school in our country where the parents of 
the scholars would not wish to have the teacher, in his con- 
versation with his pupils, take this for granted, and allude 
reverently to that great Being, with the design of leading 
them to realize his existence and to feel his authority. 



RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE. 179 

2. Our community are agreed that we are responsible to God 
for all our conduct Though some persons absurdly pretend 
to believe that the Being who formed this world, if, indeed, 
they think there is any such Being, has left it and its inhab- 
itants to themselves, not inspecting their conduct, and never 
intending to call them to account, they are too few among 
us to need consideration. A difference of opinion on this 
subject might embarrass the teacher in France, and in other 
countries in Europe, but not here. However negligent men 
may be in obeying God's commands, they do almost univer- 
sally in our country admit in theory the authority from which 
they come, and beUeving this, the parent, even if he is aware 
that he himself does not obey these commands, chooses to 
have his children taught to respect them. The teacher will 
thus be acting with the consent of his employers, in almost 
any part of our country, in endeavoring to influence his pu- 
pils to perform moral duties, not merely from worldly mo^ 
tives, nor from mere abstract principles of right and wrong, 
but /ro7?i regard to the authority of God. 

3. The community are agreed, too, in the belief of the im- 
mortality of the soul. They believe, almost without exception, 
that there is a future state of being to which this is intro- 
ductory and preparatory, and almost every father and moth- 
er in our country wish to have their children keep this in 
mind, and to be influenced by it in all their conduct. 

4. The community are agreed that we have a revelation from 
Heaven. I believe there are very few instances where the 
parents would not be glad to have the Bible read from time 
to time, its geographical and historical meanings illustrated, 
and its moral lessons brought to bear upon the hearts and 
lives of their children. Of course, if the teacher is so unwise 
as to make such a privilege, if it were allowed him, the oc- 
casion of exerting an influence upon one side or the other of 
some question which divides the community around him, he 
must expect to excite jealousy and distrust, and to be ex- 



1«0 THE TEACHER. 

eluded from a privilege which he might otherwise have been 
permitted freely to enjoy. There may, alas! be some cases 
where the use of the Scriptures is altogether forbidden in 
school; but probably in almost every such case it would be 
found that it is from fear of its perversion to sect or party 
purposes, and not from any unwillingness to have the Bible 
used in the way I have described. 

5. The community are agreed, in theory, that ^5er5o?2aZ at- 
tachment to the Supreme Being is the duty of evei^ human soul; 
and every parent, with exceptions so few that they are not 
worth naming, wishes that his children should cherish that 
affection, and yield their hearts to its influence. He is will- 
ing, therefore, that the teacher, of course without interfering 
with the regular duties for the performance of which he holds 
his office, should, from time to time, so speak of this duty, of 
God's goodness to men, of his daily protection and his prom- 
ised favors, as to awaken, if possible, this attachment in the 
hearts of his children. Of course, it is very easy for the 
teacher, if he is so disposed, to abuse this privilege also. He 
can, under pretense of awakening and cherishing the spirit of 
piety in the hearts of his pupils, present the subject in such 
aspects and relations as to arouse the sectarian or denomina- 
tional feelings of some of his employers ; but I believe, if this 
was honestly and fully avoided, there are few, if any parents 
in our country who would not be gratified to have the gi-eat 
principle of love to God manifest itself in the instructions of 
the school-room, and showing itself, by its genuine indica- 
tions, in the hearts and conduct of their children. 

6. The community are agreed not only in believing that 
piety consists primarily in love to God, but that the life of 
piety is to be commenced by p)enitence for past sins, and forgive- 
ness, in some way or other, through a Savior. I am aware that 
one class of theological writers, in the heat of controversy, 
charge the other with believing that Jesus Christ was noth- 
ing more nor less than a teacher of religion, and there are 



RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE. 181 

unquestionably individuals who take this view. But these 
individuals are few. There are very few in our community 
who do not in some sense look upon Jesus Christ as our 
Savior — our Redeemer ; who do not feel themselves in some 
way indebted to him for the offer of pardon. There may be 
here and there a theological student, or a contributor to the 
columns of a polemical magazine, who ranks Jesus Christ 
with Moses and with Paul. But the great mass of the fa- 
thers and mothers, of every name and denomination through 
all the ranks of society, look up to the Savior of sinners 
with something at least of the feeling that he is the object 
of extraordinary affection and reverence. I am aware, how- 
ever, that I am approaching the limit which, in many parts 
of our country, ought to bound the religious influence of the 
teacher in a public school, and on this subject, as on every 
other, he ought to do nothing directly or indirectly which 
would be displeasing to those who have intrusted children 
to his care. 

So much ground, it seems, the teacher may occupy, by 
common consent, in this country, and it certainly is a great 
deal. It may be doubted whether, after all our disputes, 
there is a country in the world whose inhabitants have so 
much in common in regard to religious behef. There is, per- 
haps, no country in the world where the teacher may be al- 
lowed to do so much toward leading his pupils to fear God 
and to obey his commands, with the cordial consent of pa- 
rents, as he can here.* 



* In speaking of this common ground, and in commenting upon it, 
I wish not to be understood that I consider these truths as comprising 
all that is essential in Christianity. Very far from it. A full expres- 
sion of the Christian faith would go far in advance of all here presented. 
We must not confound, however, what is essential to prepare the way 
for the forgiveness of sin with what is essential that a child should un- 
derstand in order to secure his penitence and forgiveness. The former 
is a great deal, the latter very little. 



182 THE TEACHER. 

The ground which I have been laying out is common all 
over our country ; in particular places there will be even 
much more that is common. Of course the teacher, in such 
cases, will be at much greater liberty. If a Roman Catholic 
community establish a school, and appoint a Roman Catholic 
teacher, he may properly, in his intercourse with his schol- 
ars, allude, with commendation, to the opinions and practices 
of that church. If a college is established by the Methodist 
denomination, the teacher of that institution may, of course, 
explain and enforce there the views of that society. Each 
teacher is confined only to those views ivhich are common to the 
founders and supporters of the particular institution to which he 
is attached. 

I trust the principle which I have been attempting to en- 
force is fully before the reader's mind, namely, that moral 
and religious instruction in a school being in a great degree 
extra-official in its nature, must be carried no farther than 
the teacher can go with the common consent, either express- 
ed or implied, of those who have founded, and who support 
his school. Of course, if those founders forbid it altogether, 
they have a right to do so, and the teacher must submit. 
The only question that can justly arise is whether he will 
remain in such a situation, or go and seek employment where 
a door of usefulness, here closed against him, will be opened. 
"^Yhile he remains, he must honestly and fully submit to the 
wishes of those in whose hands Providence has placed the 
ultimate responsibility of training up the children of his 
school. It is only for a partial and specific purpose that 
tliey are placed under his care. 

The religious reader may inquire why I am so anxious to 
restrain, rather than to urge on, the exercise of religious in- 
fluence in schools. " There is far too little," some one will 
say, " instead of too much, and teachers need to be encom*- 
aged and led on in this duty, not to be restrained from it." 
There is, indeed, far too little religious influence exerted in 



RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE. 183 

common schools. "What I have said has been intended to 
prepare the way for an increase of it. My view of it is this : 
If teachers do universally confine themselves to the Hmits 
which I have been attempting to define, they may accomphsh 
within these limits a vast amount of good. By attempting, 
however, to exceed them, the confidence of parents is de- 
stroyed or weakened, and the door is closed. In this way, 
injury to a very gi-eat extent has been done in many parts of 
our country. Parents are led to associate with the very idea 
of religion, indirect and perhaps secret efforts to influence 
their children in a way wdiich they themselves w^ould disap- 
prove. They transfer to the cause of piety itself the dislike 
which was first awakened by exceptionable means to promote 
it ; and other teachers, seeing these evil effects, are deterred 
from attempting what they might easily have accomphshed. 
Before, therefore, attempting to enforce the duty and to ex- 
plain the methods of exerting religious influence in school, I 
thought proper distinctly to state with what restrictions and 
within what limits the work is to be done. 

There are many teachers who profess to cherish the spirit 
and to entertain the hopes of piety, who yet make no effort 
whatever to extend its influence to the hearts of their pupils. 
Others appeal sometimes to religious truth merely to assist 
them in the government of the school. They perhaps bring 
it before the minds of disobedient pupils in a vain effort to 
make an impression upon the conscience of one who has done 
wrong, and who can not by other means be brought to sub- 
mission. But the pupil in such cases understands, or at 
least he beheves, that the teacher applies to religious truth 
only to eke out his own authority, and of course it produces 
no effect. Another teacher thinks he must, to discharge his 
duty, give a certain amount, weekly, of what he considers re- 
ligious instruction. He accordingly appropriates a regular 
portion of time to a formal lecture or exhortation, which ho. 



184 THE TEACHER. 

delivers without regard to the mental habits of thought and 
feeling which prevail among his charge. He forgets that the 
heart must be led, not driven to piety, and that unless his 
efforts are adapted to the nature of the minds he is acting 
upon, and suited to influence them, he must as certainly fail 
of success as when there is a want of adaptedness between 
the means and the end in any other undertaking whatever. 

The arrangement which seems to me as well calculated as 
any for the religious exercises of a school is this : 

1. In the morning, open the school with a very short prayer, 
resembling in its object and length the opening prayer in the 
morning at Congregational churches. The posture which, 
from some considerable experience, I would recommend at 
this exercise, is sitting with the head reclined upon the desk. 
The prayer, besides being short, should be simple in its lan- 
guage and specific in its petitions. A degree of particularity 
and familiarity which would be improper elsewhere is not 
only allowable here, but necessary to the production of the 
proper effect. That the reader may understand to what ex- 
tent I mean to be understood to recommend this, I will sub- 
join a form, such as in spirit I suppose such a prayer ought 
to be. 

" Our Father in Heaven, who hast kindly preserved the pupils and 
the teacher of this school during the past night, come and grant us a 
continuance of thy protection and blessing during this day. We can 
not spend the day prosperously and happily without thee. Come, then, 
and be in this school-room during this day, and help us all to be faith- 
ful and successful in duty. 

" Guide the teacher in all that he may do. Give him wisdom, and 
patience, and faithfulness. May he treat all his pupils with kindness ; 
and if any of them should do any thing that is wrong, wilt thou help 
him, gently but firmly, to endeavor to bring him back to duty. May he 
sympathize with the difficulties and trials of all, and promote the pres- 
ent happiness as well as the intellectual progress of all who are com- 
mitted to his care. 

*' Take care of the pupils too. May they spend the day pleasantly 
and happily together. Wilt thou, who didst originally give us all our 



KELIGIOUS INFLUENCE. 185 

powers, direct and assist us all, this day, in the use and improvement 
of them. Remove difficulties from our path, and give us all fidelity and 
patience in every duty. Let no one of us destroy our peace and hap- 
piness this day by breaking any of thy commands, or encouraging our 
companions in sins, or neglecting, in any respect, our duty. We ask 
all in the name of our great Redeemer. Amen." 

Of course the prayer of each day \Aall be varied, unless in 
special cases the teacher prefers to read some form like the 
above. But let every one be minute and particular, relating 
especially to school — to school temptations, and trials, and 
difficulties. Let every one be filled with expressions relat- 
ing to school, so that it "vvill bear upon every sentence the 
impression that it is the petition of a teacher and his pupils 
at the throne of grace. 

2. If the pupils can sing, there may be a single verse, *or 
sometimes two verses, of some well-kno-svn hymn sung after 
the prayer at the opening of the school. Teachers will find it 
much easier to introduce this practice than it would at first 
be supposed. In almost every school there are enough who 
can sing to begin, especially if the first experiment is made 
in a recess, or before or after school ; and the beginning 
once made, the difficulty is over. If but few tunes are sung, 
a veiy large proportion of the scholars will soon learn them. 

3. Let there be no other regular exercise until the close 
of the afternoon school. "When that hour has arrived, let the 
teacher devote a very short period, five minutes perhaps, to 
religious instruction, given in various ways. At one time he 
may explain and illustrate some important truth. At an- 
other, read and comment upon a very short portion of Scrip- 
ture. At another, relate an anecdote or fact which will tend 
to interest the scholars in the performance of duty. The 
teacher should be very careful not to imitate on these occa- 
sions the formal style of exhortation from the pulpit. Let 
him use no cant and hackneyed phrases, and never approach 
the subject of personal piety, or speak of such feelings as pen- 



186 THE TEACHER. 

itence for sin, trust in God, and love for the Savior, unless 
his own heart is really at the time warmed by the emotions 
which he wishes to awaken in others. Children very easily 
detect hypocrisy. They know very well when a parent or 
teacher is talking to them on religious subjects merely as a 
matter of course for the sake of effect, and such constrained 
and formal efforts never do any good. 

Let, then, every thing which you do in reference to this 
subject be done with proper regard to the character and con- 
dition of the youthful mind, and in such a way as shall be 
calculated to interest as well as to instruct. A cold and form- 
al exhortation, or even an apparently earnest one, delivered 
in a tone of affected solemnity, will produce no good effect. 
Perhaps I ought not to say it will produce no good effect, 
for good does sometimes result as a sort of accidental conse- 
quence from almost any thing. I mean it will have no ef- 
fectual tendency to do good. You must vary your method, 
too, in order to interest your pupils. Watch their counte- 
nances when you are addressing them, and see if they look 
interested. If they do not, be assured that there is some- 
thing wrong, or at least something ill-judged or inefficient in 
your manner of explaining the truths which you wish to have 
produce an effect upon their minds. 

That you may be prepared to bring moral and religious 
truths before their minds in the way I have described, your 
own mind must take a strong interest in this class of truths. 
You must habituate yourself to look at the moral and relig- 
ious aspects and relations of ail that you see and hear. When 
you are reading, notice such facts and remember such nar- 
ratives as you can turn to good account in this way. In the 
same way, treasure up in your mind such occurrences as may 
come under your own personal observation when traveling, 
or when mixing with society. 

That the spirit and manner of these religious exercises may 
be the more distinctly understood, I will give some examples. 



RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE. 187 

Let us suppose, tlien, that the hour for closing school has 
come. The books are laid aside ; the room is still ; the boys 
expect the few words which the teacher is accustomed to 
address to them, and, looking up to him, they listen to hear 
what he has to say. 

'' You may take your Bibles." 

The boys, by a simultaneous movement, open their desks, 
and take from them their copies of the sacred volume. 

''What is the first book of the New Testament f 

" Matthew," they all answer at once. 

"The second f "Mark." "The third?" "Luke." 
"Thenextl" "John." "The next?" "The Acts." "The 
next?" 

Many answer, " Komans." 

"The next?" 

A few voices say faintly, and with hesitation, " First of 
Corinthians." 

" I perceive your answers become fainter and fainter. Do 
you know what is the last book of the New Testament ?" 

The boys answer promptly, "Revelations." 

" Do you know what books are between the Acts and the 
book of Revelation ?" 

Some say "No, sir;" some begin to enumerate such books 
as occur to them, and some, perhaps, begin to name them 
promptly and in their regular order. 

"I do not mean," interrupts the teacher, "the names of 
the books, but the hinds of books." 

The boys hesitate. 

" They are epistles or letters. Do you know who wrote 
the letters?" 

" Paul," " Peter," answer many voices at once. 

" Yes, there were several writers. Now the point which 
I wish to bring before you is this ; do you know in what or- 
der, I mean on what principles, the books are arranged?" 

"No, sir," is the universal reply. 



188 THE TEACHER; 

" I will tell you. First come all Paul's epistles. If you 
turn over the leaves of the Testament, you will see that Paul's 
letters are all put together after the book of the Acts ; and 
what I wish you to notice is, that they are arranged in the 
order of their length. The longest comes first, and then the 
next, and so on to the shortest, which is the epistle to Phil- 
emon. This, of course, comes last — no, I am wrong in saying 
it is the last of Paul's epistles ; there is one more to the He- 
brews ; and this comes after all the others, for there has been 
a good deal of dispute whether it was really written by Paul. 
You will see that his name is not at the beginning of it, as it 
is in his other epistles : so it was put last. 

" Then comes the Epistle of James. Will you see whether 
it is longer than any that come after it *?" The boys, after a 
minute's examination, answer, "Yes, sir;" "Yes, sir." 

"Wliat comes next?" 

"The epistles of Peter." 

" Yes ; and you will see that the longest of Peter's epis- 
tles is next in length to that of James's; and, indeed, all his 
are arranged in the order of their length." 

"Yes, sir." 

"What comes nextf 

"John's." 

" Yes ; and they are arranged in the order of their length. 
Do you now understand the principle of the arrangement of 
the epistles'?" 

" Yes, sir." 

" I should like to have any of you who are interested in 
it to try to express this principle in a few sentences, on paper, 
and lay it on my desk to-morrow, and I will read what you 
write. You will find it very difiicult to express it. Now 
you may lay aside your books. It will be pleasanter for you 
if you do it silently." 

Intelligent children will be interested even in so simple a 
point as this — much more interested than a maturer mind, 



RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE. 180 

unacquainted with the peculiarities of children, would sup- 
pose. By bringing up from time to time some such hterary 
inquiry as this, they will be led insensibly to regard the Bible 
as opening a field for interesting intellectual research, and will 
more easily be led to study it. 

At another time the teacher spends his five minutes in 
aiming to accomphsh a very difierent object. I will suppose 
it to be one of those afternoons when all has gone smoothly 
and pleasantly in school. There has been nothing to excite 
strong interest or emotion ; and there has been (as every 
teacher knows there sometimes will be), without any assign- 
able cause which he can perceive, a calm, and quiet, and 
happy spirit difiused over the minds and countenances of the 
little assembly. His evening communication should accord 
with this feeling, and he should make it the occasion to pro- 
mote those pure and hallowed emotions in which every im- 
mortal mind must find its happiness, if it is to enjoy any 
worth possessing. 

When all is still, the teacher addresses his pupils as fol- 
lows : 

" I have nothing but a simple story to tell you to-night. 
It is true, and the fact interested me very much when I wit- 
nessed it, but I do not know that it will interest you now 
merely to hear it repeated. It is this : 

"Last vacation, I was traveling in a remote and thinly- 
settled country, among the mountains, in another state. I 
was riding with a gentleman on an almost unfrequented road. 
Forests were all around us, and the houses were small and 
very few. 

" At length, as we were passing an humble and solitary 
dwelling, the gentleman said to me, ' There is a young wom- 
an sick in this house ; should you like to go in and see her V 
' Yes, sir,' said I, ' very much. She can have very few vis- 
itors, I think, in this lonely place, and if you think she would 
like to see us, I should like to go.' 



190 THE TEACHER. 

" We turned our horses toward the door, and as we were 
riding up, I asked what was the matter with the young 
woman. 

" * Consumption,' the gentleman replied ; * and I suppose 
she will not live long.' 

'* At that moment we dismounted and entered the house. 
It was a very pleasant summer afternoon, and the door was 
open. We entered, and were received by an elderly lady, 
who seemed glad to see us. In one corner of the room was 
a bed, on which was lying the patient whom we had come to 
visit. She was pale and thin in her countenance, but there 
was a very calm and happy expression beaming in her eye. 
I went up to her bedside, and asked her how she did. 

" I talked with her some time, and found that she was a 
Christian. She did not seem to know whether she would 
get well again or not, and, in fact, she did not appear to care 
much about it. She was evidently happy then, and she be- 
lieved that she should continue so. She had been penitent 
for her sins, and had sought and obtained forgiveness, and 
enjoyed, in her loneliness, not only the protection of God, 
but also his presence in her heart, diffusing peace and happi- 
ness there. When I came into the house, I said to myself, 
* I pity, I am sure, a person who is confined by sickness in 
this lonely place, with nothing to interest or amuse her ;' but 
when I came out, I said to myself, 'I do not pity her at all.' " 

Never destroy the effect of such a communication as this 
by attempting to follow it up with an exhortation, or with 
general remarks, vainly attempting to strengthen the im- 
pression. 

Never, do I say ^ Perhaps there may be some exceptions. 
But children are not reached by formal exhortations ; their 
hearts are touched and affected in other ways. Sometimes 
you must reprove, sometimes you must condemn ; but indis- 
criminate and perpetual harangues about the guilt of impen- 
itence, and earnest entreaties to begin a life of piety, only 



RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE. 191 

harden the hearts they are intended to soften, and consequent- 
ly confirm those who hear them in the habits of sin. 

In the same way a multitude of other subjects, infinite in 
number and variety, may be brought before your pupils at 
stated seasons for religious instruction. It is unnecessary 
to give any more particular examples, but still it may not be 
amiss to suggest a few general principles, which ought to 
guide those who are addressing the young on every subject, 
and especially on the subject of religion. 

1. Make no effort to simplify language when addressing the 
young. Children always observe this, and are always dis- 
pleased with it, unless they are very young ; and it is not nec- 
essary. They can understand ordinary language well enough, 
if the subject is within their comprehension, and treated in a 
manner adapted to their powers. If you doubt whether chil- 
dren can understand language, tell such a story as this, with 
ardor of tone and proper gesticulation, to a child only two 
or three years old : 

" I saw an enormous dog in the street the other day. He 
was sauntering along slowly, until he saw a huge j)iece of 
meat lying down on the ground. He grasped it instantly be- 
tween his teeth, and ran away with all speed, until he disap- 
peared around a corner so that I could see him no more." 

In such a description there is a large number of words 
which such a child would not understand if they stood alone, 
but the whole description would be perfectly intelligible. 
The reason is, the subject is simple; the facts are such as a 
very little child would be interested in ; and the connection 
of each new word, in almost every instance, explains its mean- 
ing. That is the way by which children learn all language. 
They learn the meaning of words, not by definitions, but by 
their connection in the sentences in which they hear them ; 
and, by long practice, they acquire an astonisliing facility of 
doing this. It is true.they sometimes mistake, but not often, 
and the teacher of children of almost any age need not h& 



192 THE TEACHEK. 

afraid that he shall not be understood. There is no danger 
from his using the language of men, if his subject, and the 
manner in which he treats it, and the form and structure of 
his sentences, are what they ought to be. Of course there 
may be cases, in fact there often will be cases, where partic- 
ular words will require special explanation, but they will be 
comparatively few, and instead of making efforts to avoid 
them, it will be better to let them come. The pupils will be 
interested and profited by the explanation. 

Perhaps some may ask what harm it will do to simplify 
language when talking to children. " It certainly can do no 
injury," they may say, "and it diminishes all possibility of 
being misunderstood." It does injury in at least three ways : 

(1.) It disgusts the young persons to whom it is addressed, 
and prevents their being interested in what is said. I once 
met two children, twelve years of age, who had just returned 
from hearing a very able discourse, delivered before a num- 
ber of Sabbath-schools assembled on some public occasion. 
" How did you like the discourse f said I. 

''Very well indeed," they replied; "only," said one of 
them, smiling, "he talked to us as if we were all little chil- 
dren." 

Girls and boys, however young, never consider themselves 
little children, for they can always look down upon some 
younger than themselves. They are mortified when treated 
as though they could not understand what is really within 
the reach of their faculties. They do not like to have their 
powers underrated, and they are right in this feeling. It is 
common to all, old and young. 

(2.) Children are kept back in learning language if their 
teacher makes effort to come down, as it is called, to their 
comprehension in the use of words. Notice that I say in the 
use of words ; for, as I shall show presently, it is absolutely 
necessary to come down to the comprehension of children in 
some other respects. If, however, in the use of words, those 



liELlGlOUS INFLUENCE. l9o 

who address children confine themselves to such words as 
children already understand, how are they to make progress 
in that most important of all studies, the knowledge of lan- 
guage ? Many a mother keeps back her child, in this way, 
to a degree that is hardly conceivable, thus doing all in her 
power to perpetuate in the child an ignorance of its mother 
tongue. 

Teachers ought to make constant efforts to increase their 
scholars* stock of words by using new ones from time to time, 
taking care to explain them when the connection does not do 
it for them ; so that, instead of coming doicn to the language 
of childhood, they ought rather to go as far away from it as 
they can, without leaving their pupils behind them- 

(3.) But perhaps the greatest evil of this practice is, it sat- 
isfies the teacher. He thinks he addresses his pupils in the 
right manner, and overlooks altogether the real peculiarities 
in which the power to interest the young depends. He talks 
to them in simple language, and wonders why they are not 
interested. He certainly is plain enough. He is vexed with 
them for not attending to what he says, attributing it to their 
dullness or regardlessness of all that is useful or good, instead 
of perceiving that the great difficulty is his own want of skill. 
These three evils are sufficient to deter the teacher from the 
practice. 

2. Present your subject, not in its general views, but in its 
minute details. This is the great secret of interesting the 
young. Present it in its details and in its practical exempli- 
fications ; do this with any subject whatever, and children 
will always be interested.. 

To illustrate this, let us suppose two teachers wishing to 
explain to their pupils the same subject, and taking the fol- 
lowing opposite methods of doing it. One, at the close of 
school, addresses his charge as follows : 

" The moral character of any action, that is, whether it iir 
right or wrong, depends upon the motives with which it i? 

I 



194 THE TEACHER. 

performed. Men look only at the outward conduct, but God 
looks at the heart. In order, now, that any action should be 
pleasing to God, it is necessary it should be performed from 
the motive of a desire to please him. 

''Now there are a great many other motives of action 
which prevail among mankind besides this right one. There 
is love of praise, love of money, affection for friends, and 
many others." 

By the time the teacher has proceeded thus far, he finds, as 
he looks around the room, that the countenances of his pupils 
are assuming a listless and inattentive air. One is restless 
in his seat, evidently paying no attention. Another has re- 
clined his head upon his desk, lost in a reverie, and others 
are looking round the room at one another, or at the door, 
restless and impatient, hoping that the dull lecture will soon 
be over. 

The other teacher says : 

"I have thought of an experiment I might try, which 
would illustrate to you a very important subject. Suppose I 
should call one of the boys. A, to me, and should say to him, 
* I wish you to go to your seat, and transcribe a piece of po- 
etry as handsomely as you can. If it is written as well as 
you can possibly write it, I will give you a quarter of a dollar. 
Suppose I say this to him privately, so that none of the rest 
of the boys can hear, and he goes to take his seat and begins 
to work. You perceive that I have presented to him a mo- 
tive to exertion." 

" Yes, sir," say the boys, all looking with interest at the 
teacher, wondering how this experiment is going to end. 

"Well, what would that motive bel" 

*' Money." " The quarter of a dollar." "Love of money," 
or perhaps other answers, are heard from the various parts 
of the room. 

" Yes, love of money it is called. Now suppose I should 
call another boy, one with whom I was particularly acquaint- 



RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE. 195 

ed, and who I should know would make an effort to please 
me, and should saj to him, ' For a particular reason, I want 
you to copy this poetry' — giving him the same — ' I wish you 
to copy it handsomely, for I wish to send it away, and have 
not time to copy it myself. Can you do it for me V 

" Suppose the boy should say he could, and should take it 
to his seat and begin, neither of the boys knowing what the 
other was doing. I should now have offered to this second 
boy a motive. Would it be the same with the other"?" 

"No, sir." 

"A\liat was the other?" 

" Love of money." 

"AYhatisthisf 

The boys hesitate. 

" It might be called," continues the teacher, " friendship. 
It is the motive of a vast number of the actions which are 
performed in this world. 

" Do you think of any other common motive of action be- 
sides love of money and friendship?" 

"Love of honor," says one; "fear," says another. 

*'Yes," continues the teacher, "both these are common 
motives. I might, to exhibit them, call two more boys, one 
after the other, and say to the one, ' I will thank you to go 
and copy this piece of poetry as well as you can. I want to 
send it to the school committee as a specimen of improve- 
ment made in this school.' 

" To the other I might say, ' You have been a careless boy 
to-day ; you have not got your lessons well. Now take your 
seat and copy this poetry. Do it carefully. Unless you take 
pains, and do it as well as you possibly can, I shall punish 
you severely before you go home.' 

" How many motives have I got now? Four, I believe." 

"Yes, sir," say the boys. 

" Love of money, friendship, love of honor, and fear. We 
called the first boy A ; let us call the others B, C, and D ; 



196 THE TEACHER. 

no, we shall remember better to call them by the name of 
their motives. We will call the first M, for money; the 
second, F, for friendship ; the third, H, for honor ; and the 
last, F — we have got an F already; what shall we do ? On 
the whole, it is of no consequence ; we will have two F's, but 
we will take care not to confound them. 

" But therie are a great many other motives entirely distinct 
from these. For example, suppose I should say to a fifth 
boy, ' Will you copy this piece of poetry ? It belongs to one 
of the little boys in school : he wants a copy of it, and I told 
him I would try to get some one to copy it for him.' This 
motive, now, would be benevolence ; that is, if the boy who 
was asked to copy it was not particularly acquainted with 
the other, and did it chiefly to oblige him. We will call this 
boy B, for Benevolence. 

" Now suppose I call a sixth boy, and say to him, ' I have 
set four or five boys to work copying this piece of poetry ; 
now I wish you to sit down, and see if you can not do it bet- 
ter than any of them. After all are done, I will compare 
them, and see if yours is not the best.' This would be trying 
to excite emulation. We must call this boy, then, E. But 
the time I intended to devote to talking with you on this sub- 
ject for to-day is expired. Perhaps to-morrow I will take 
up the subject again." 

The reader now will observe that the grand peculiarity of 
the instructions given by this last teacher, as distinguished 
from those of the first, consists in this, that the parts of the 
subject are presented in detail, and in particular exemplification. 
In the first case, the whole subject was dispatched in a single, 
general, and comprehensive description ; in the latter, it is 
examined minutely, one point being brought forward at a 
time. ' The discussions are enlivened, too, by meeting and 
removing such little difficulties as will naturally come up in 
such an investigation. Boys and girls will take an interest 
in such a lecture ; they will regret to have it come to a con- 



RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE. 197 

elusion, and will give their attention when the subject is 
again brought forward on the following day. Let us sup- 
pose the time for continuing the exercise to have arrived. 
The teacher resumes the discussion thus : 

"I was talking to you yesterday about the motives of 
action. How many had I made 1" 

Some say "Four," some "Five," some "Six." 

" Can you name any of them ?' 

The boys attempt to recollect them, and they give the 
names in the order in which they accidentally occur to the 
various individuals. Of course the words Fear, Emulation, 
Honor, Friendship, and others, come in confused and irregu- 
lar sounds from every part of the school-room. 

" You do not recollect the order," says the teacher, " and 
it is of no consequence, for the order I named was only acci- 
dental. Now to go on with my account : suppose all these 
boys to sit down and go to writing, each one acting under the 
impulse of the motive which had been presented to him in- 
dividually. But, in order to make the supposition answer 
my purpose, I must add two other cases. I will imagine 
that one of these boys is called away a few minutes, and 
leaves his paper on his desk, and that another boy, of an ill- 
natured and morose disposition, happening to pass by and see 
his paper, thinks he will sit down and write upon it a few 
lines, just to tease and vex the one who was called away. 
We will also suppose that I call another boy to me, who I 
have reason to believe is a sincere Christian, and say to him, 
' Plere is a new duty for you to perform this afternoon. This 
piece of poetry is to be copied ; now do it carefully and faith- 
fully. You know that this morning you committed yourself 
to God's care during the day ; now remember that he has 
been watching you all the time thus far, and that he will be 
noticing you all the time you are doing this; he will be 
pleased if you do your duty faithfully.' 

" The boys thus all go to writing. Now suppose a stran- 



198 THE TEACHER. 

ger should come in, and, seeing them all busy, should say 
to me, 

" ' What are all these boys doing V 

" 'They are writing.' 

" ' What are they writing'?' 

" ' They are writing a piece of poetry.' 

" ' They seem to be very busy ; they are very industrious, 
good boys.' 

" ' Oh no ! it is not by any means certain that they are 
good boys.' 

" ' I mean that they are good boys 7ioiv ; that they are do- 
ing right at this time.'' 

" ' That is not certain ; some of them are doing right and 
some are doing very wrong, though they are all wi'iting the 
same piece of poetry.' 

" The stranger would perhaps look surprised while I said 
this, and would ask an explanation, and I might properly 
reply as follows : 

" ' Whether the boys are at this moment doing right or 
wrong depends not so much upon what they are doing as 
upon the feelings of the heart with which they are doing it. 
I acknowledge that they are all doing the same thing out- 
wardly ; they are all writing the same extract, and they are 
all doing it attentively and carefully, but they are thinking 
of very different things.' 

" ' What are they thinking off 

" ' Do you see that boy V I might say, pointing to one of 
them. ' His name is M. He is writing for money. He is 
saying to himself all the time, " I hope I shall get the quarter 
of a dollar." He is calculating what he shall buy with it, 
and every good or bad letter that he makes, he is considering 
the chance whether he shall succeed or fail in obtaining it.' 

'' 'What is the next boy to him thinking of?' 

" ' His name is B. He is copying to oblige a little fellow 
whom he scarcely knows, and is trying to make his copy 



RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE. 199 

handsome, so as to give him pleasure. He is thinking how 
gratified his schoolmate will be when he receives it, and is 
forming plans to get acquainted with him. 

" ' Do you see that boy in the back seat ? He has mali- 
ciously taken another boy's place just to spoil his work. He 
knows, too, that he is breaking the rules of the school in be- 
ing out of his place, but he stays notwithstanding, and is 
delighting himself with thinking how disappointed and sad 
his schoolmate will be when he comes in and finds his work 
spoiled by having another handwriting in it, when he was 
depending on doing it all himself 

'' 'I see,' the stranger might say by this time, ^that there 
is a great diflference among these boys; have you told me 
about them aU V 

'"No,' I might reply, * there are several others. I will 
only mention one more. He sits in the middle of the second 
desk. He is writing carefully, simply because he wishes to 
do his duty and please God. He thinks that God is present, 
and loves him, and takes care of him, and he is obedient and 
gi-ateful in return. I do not mean that he is all the time 
thinking of God, but love to him is his motive of effort.' 

" Do you see now, boys, what I mean to teach you by this 
long supposition f 

" Yes, sir." 

" I presume you do. Perhaps it would be difficult for you 
to express it in words ; I can express it in general terms thus : 

" Ou7^ dmracters depend, not on what ive do, hut on the spirit 
and motive with which we do it. What I have been saying 
throws light upon one important verse in the Bible, which I 
should like to have read. James, have you a Bible in your 
desk?" 

"Yes, sir." 

" Will you turn to 1 Samuel, xvi., 7, and then rise and read 
it ? Read it loud, so that all the school can hear." 

James read as follows : 



200 the teacher. ^ 

"Man looketh on the outwaed appearance, but God 
looketh on the heart." 

This is the way to reach the intellect and the heart of the 
young. Go into detail. Explain truth and duty, not in an 
abstract form, but exhibit it in actual and living examj^les. 

(3.) Be very cautious how you bring in the awful sanctions 
of religion to assist you directly in the discipline of your 
school. You will derive a most powerful indirect assistance 
from the influence of religion in the little community which 
you govern, but this will be through the prevalence of its 
spirit in the hearts of your pupils, and not from any assist- 
ance which you can usually derive from it in managing par- 
ticular cases of transgression. Many teachers make great 
mistakes in this respect. A bad boy, who has done some- 
thing openly and directly subversive of the good order of the 
school, or the rights of his companions, is called before the 
master, who thinks that the most powerful weapon to wield 
against him is the Bible. So, while the trembling culprit 
stands before him, he administers to him a reproof, which 
consists of an almost ludicrous mixture of scolding, entreaty, 
religious instruction, and threatening of punishment. But 
such an occasion as this is no time to touch a bad boy's heart. 
He is steeled at such a moment against any thing but mor- 
tification and the desire to get out of the hands of the master, 
and he has an impression that the teacher appeals to relig- 
ious principles only to assist him to sustain his own authority. 
Of course, religious truth, at such a time, can make no good 
impression. There may be exceptions to this rule. There 
doubtless are. I have found some ; and every successful 
teacher who reads this will probably call to mind some which 
have occurred in the course of his own experience. I am 
only speaking of what ought to be the general rule, which is 
to reserve religious truths for moments of a diiferent character 
Altogether. Bring the principles of the Bible forward when 
the mind is calm, when the emotions are quieted, and all 



RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE. 201 

within is a,t rest ; and in exhibiting them, be actuated, not by 
a desire to make your duties of government easier, but to 
promote the real and permanent happiness of your charge. 

(4.) Do not be eager to draw from your pupils an expres- 
sion of their personal interest in religious truth. Lay bdfore 
them, and enforce, by all the means in your power, the prin- 
ciples of Christian duty, but do not converse with them for 
the purpose of gratifying your curiosity in regard to their pi- 
ety, or your spiritual pride by counting up the numbers of 
those who have been led to piety by your influence. Begin- 
ning to act from Christian principle is the beginning of a 
new life, and it may be an interesting subject of inquiry to 
you to ascertain how many of your pupils have experienced 
the change ; but, in many cases, it would merely gratify cu- 
riosity to know. There is no question, too, that, in very 
many instances, the faint glimmering of religious interest, 
which would have kindled into a bright flame, is extinguish- 
ed at once, and perhaps forever, by the rough inquiries of a 
religious friend. Besides, if you make inquiries, and form a 
definite opinion of your pupils, they vidll know that this is 
your practice, and many a one will repose in the belief that 
you consider him or her a Christian, and you wiU thus in- 
crease the number, already unfortunately too large, of those 
who maintain the form and pretenses of piety without its 
power ; whose hearts are filled with self-sufficiency and spir- 
itual pride, and perhaps zeal for the truths and external du- 
ties of religion, while the real spirit of piety has no place 
there. They trust to some imaginary change, long since pass- 
ed by, and which has proved to be spurious by its fixiling of 
its fruits. The best way — in fact, the only way — to guard 
against this danger, especially with the young, is to show, by 
your manner of speaking and acting on this subject at all 
times, that you regard a truly religious life as the only evi- 
dence of piety, and that, consequently, however much inter- 
est your pupils may apparently take in religious instruction, 

12 



202 THE TEACHER. 

they can not know, and you can not know, whether Chris- 
tian principle reigns within them in any other way than by 
following them through life, and observing how, and with 
what spirit, the various duties which devolve upon them are 
performed. 

There are very many fallacious indications of piety, so fal- 
lacious and so plausible that there are very few, even among 
intelligent Christians, who are not often greatly deceived. 
" By their fruits ye shall know them," said the Savior ; a di- 
rection sufficiently plain, one would think, and pointing to a 
test sufficiently easy to be applied. But it is slow and tedi- 
ous work to wait for fruits, and we accordingly seek a crite- 
rion which will help us quicker to a result. You see your 
pupil serious and thoughtful. It is well ; but it is not proof 
of piety. You see him deeply interested when you speak of 
his obhgations to his Maker, and the duties he owes to Him. 
This is well, but it is no proof of piety. You know he reads 
his Bible daily, and offers his morning and evening prayers. 
When you speak to him of God's goodness, and of his past 
ingratitude, his bosom heaves with emotion, and the tear 
stands in his eye. It is all Avell. You may hope that he is 
going to devote his life to the service of God ; but you can 
not know, you can not even believe with any great confi- 
dence. These appearances are not piety. They are not con- 
clusive evidences of it. -They are only, in the young, faint 
grounds of hope that the genuine fruits of piety will ap- 
pear. 

I am aware that there are many persons so habituated to 
judging with confidence of the piety of others from some such 
indications as I have described, that they will think I carry 
my cautions to the extreme. Perhaps I do ; but the Savior 
said, " By their fruits ye shall know them," and it is safest 
to follow his direction. 

By the word " fruits," however, our Savior unquestionably 
does not mean the mere moral virtues of this life. The fruits 



RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE. 203 

to be looked at are the fruits o^ piety, that is, indications of 
permanent attachment to the Creator, and a desire to obey 
his commands. We must look for these. 

There is no objection to your giving particular individuals 
special instruction adapted to their wants and circumstances. 
You may do this by writing or in other ways, but do not 
lead them to make up their minds fully that they are Chris- 
tians in such a sense as to induce them to feel that the work 
is done. Let them understand that becoming a Christian is 
beginning a work, not finishing it. Be cautious how you form 
an opinion even yourself on the question of the genuineness 
of their piety. Be content not to know. You will be more 
faithful and watchful if you consider it uncertain, and they 
will be more faithful and watchful too. 

(5.) Bring very fully and frequently before your pupils the 
practical duties of religion in all their details, especially their 
duties at home, to their parents, and to their brothers and sis- 
ters. Do not, however, allow them to mistake morality for 
religion. Show them clearly what piety is in its essence, and 
this you can do most successfully by exhibiting its effects. 

(6.) Finally, let me insert as the keystone of all that I have 
been saying in this chapter, be sincere, and ardent, and con- 
sistent in your own piety. The whole structure which I have 
been attempting to build will tumble into ruins without this. 
Be constantly watchful and careful, not only to maintain in- 
timate communion with God, and to renew it daily in your 
seasons of retirement, but to guard your conduct. Let piety 
control and regulate it. Show your pupils that it makes you 
amiable, patient, forbearing, benevolent in little things as well 
as in great things, and your example will co-operate with 
your instructions, and allure your pupils to walk in the paths 
which you tread. But no clearness and faithfulness in relig- 
ious teaching will atone for the injury which a bad example 
will effect. Conduct speaks louder than words, and no per- 
sons are more shrewd than the young to discover the hollow- 



204 THE TEACHER. 

ness of empty professions, and the heartlessness of mere pre- 
tended interest in their good. 

1 ajn aware that this book may fall into the hands of some 
who may take little interest in the subject of this chapter. 
To such I may perhaps owe an apology for having tlj^us fully 
discussed a topic in which only a part of my readers can be 
supposed to be interested. My apology is this : It is obvious 
and unquestionable that we all owe allegiance to the Su- 
preme. It is so obvious and unquestionable as to be entirely 
beyond the necessity of proof, for it is plain that nothing but 
such a bond of union can keep the peace among the millions 
of distinct intelligences with which the creation is filled. It 
is therefore the plain duty of every man to establish that con- 
nection between himself and his Maker which the Bible re- 
quires, and to do what he can to bring others to the peace 
and happiness of piety. These truths are so plain that they 
admit of no discussion and no denial, and it seems to me 
highly unsafe for any man to neglect or to postpone the per- 
formance of the duty which arises from them. A still great- 
er hazard is incurred when such a man, having forty or fifty 
fellow-beings almost entirely under his influence, leads them, 
by his example, away from their Maker, and so far that he 
must, in many cases, hopelessly confirm the separation. 
With these views, I could not, when writing on the duties of 
a teacher of the young, refrain from bringing distinctly to 
view this which lias so imperious a claim. 



MOUNT VERNON SCHOOL. 



205 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE MOUNT VERNON SCHOOL. 





M 



^^V^ 



EEHAPS there is no way by which teach- 
ers can, in a given time, do more to acquire 
a knowledge of their art, and an interest in 
it, than by visiting each others' schools. 
It is not always the case that any thing 
is observed by the visitor which he can directly and wholly 
introduce into his own school, but what he sees suggests to 
him modifications or changes, and it gives him, at any rate, 
renewed strength and resolution in his work to see how sim- 
ilar objects are accomplished, or similar difficulties removed 
by others. I have often thought that there ought, on this 
account, to be far greater freedom and frequency in the inter- 
change of visits than there is. 

Next, however, to a visit to a school, comes the reading 
of a vivid description of it. I do not mean a cold, theoretical 
exposition of the general principles of its management and 
instruction, for these are essentially the same in all good 
schools. I mean a minute account of the plans and arrange- 
ments by which these general principles are applied. Sup- 
pose twenty of the most successful teachers in New England 
would write such a description, each of his own school, how 
valuable would be the volume which should contain them ! 



206 ' THE TEACHER. 

With these views, I have concluded to devote one chapter 
to the description of a school which was for several years un- 
der my care.* The account was originally prepared and 
printed, but not published, for the purpose of distribution 
among the scholars, simply because this seemed to be the 
easiest and surest method of making them, on their admis- 
sion to the school, acquainted with its arrangements and 
plans. It is addressed, therefore, throughout to a pupil, and 
I preserve its original form, as, by its being addressed to pu- 
pils, and intended to influence them, it is an example of the 
mode of address and the kind of influence recommended in 
this work. It was chiefly designed for new scholars ; a copy 
of it was presented to each on the day of her admission to 
the school, and it was made her first duty to read it atten- 
tively. 

The system which it describes is one which gradually grew 
up in the institution under the writer's care. The school 
was commenced with a small number of pupils, and without 
any system or plan whatever, and the one here described 
was formed insensibly and by slow degrees, through the in- 
fluence of various and accidental circumstances. I have no 
idea that it is superior to the plans of government and in- 
struction adopted in many other schools. It is true that 
there must necessarily be some system in every large institu- 
tion ; but various instructors will fall upon different princi- 
ples of organization, which will naturally be such as are 
adapted to the habits of thought and manner of instruction 
of their respective authors, and consequently each will be best 
for its own place. While, therefore, some system — some 
methodical arrangement is necessary in all schools, it is not 
necessary that it should be the same in all. It is not even 
desirable that it should be. I consider this plan as only one 
among a multitude of others, each of which will be success- 

* The author was still connected with this school at the time when 
this work was written. 



MOUNT VERNON SCHOOL. 207 

fill, not by the power of its intrinsic qualities, but just in 
proportion to the ability and faithfulness with which it is 
carried into effect. 

There .may be features of this plan which teachers who 
may. read it may be inclined to adopt. In other cases, sug- 
gestions may occur to the mind of the reader, which may 
modify in some degree his present plans. Others may merely 
be interested in seeing how others effect what they, by other 
methods, are equally successful in effecting. 

It is in these and similar ways that I have often myself 
been highly benefited in visiting schools and in reading de- 
scriptions of them, and it is for such purposes that I insert 
the account here. 



TO A NEW SCHOLAR ON HER ADMISSION TO THE MOUNT VERNON 
SCHOOL. 

As a large school is necessarily somewhat complicated in 
its plan, and as new scholars usually find that it requires 
some time and gives them no little trouble to understand the 
arrangements they find in operation here, I have concluded 
to write a brief description of these arrangements, by help of 
which you will, I hope, the sooner feel at home in your new 
place of duty. That I may be more distinct and specific, I 
shall class what I have to say under separate heads. 

I. YOUR PERSONAL DUTY. 

Your first anxiety as you come into the school-room, and 
take your seat among the busy multitude, if you are consci- 
entiously desirous of doing your duty, ^\all be, lest, ignorant 
as you are of the whole plan and of all the regulations of the 
institution, you should inadvertently do what will be consid- 
ered wrong. I wish first, then, to put you at rest on this 
score. There is but one rule of this school. That you can 
easily keep. 

You will observe on one side of my desk a clock upon the 



208 THE TEACIIEK. 

wall, and not far from it a piece of apparatus that is proba- 
bly new to yon. It is a metallic plate, upon which are mark- 
ed, in gilded letters, the words '^ Study Hours'^ This is up- 
right, but it is so attached by its lower edge to its support by 
means of a hinge that it can fall over from above, and, thus 
be in a horizontal position ; or it will rest in an inclined posi- 
tion — half down, as it is called. It is drawn up and let down 
by a cord passing over a pulley. When it passes either way, 
its upper part touches a bell, which gives all in the room no- 
tice of its motion. 

Now when this ^^ Study Card,^''* as the scholars call it, is 
?//), so that the words " Study Hours" are presented to the 
view of the school, it is the signal for silence and study. 
There is then to be no co]VI]iIUN^CATION and no leaving 
OF seats except at the direction of teachers. When 
it is half dotvn, each scholar may leave her seat and whisper, 
but she must do nothing which will disturb others. When 
it is down, all the duties of school are suspended, and schol- 
ars are left entirely to their liberty. 

As this is the only rule of the school, it deserves a little 
more full explanation ; for not only your progress in study, 
but your influence in promoting the welfare of the school, 
and, consequently, your peace and happiness while you are a 
member of it, will depend upon the strictness with which you 
observe it. 

Whenever, then, the study card goes up, and you hear the 
sound of its little bell, immediately and instantaneously stop, 
whatever you are saying. If you are away from your seat, 
go directly to it and there remain, and forget in your own 
silent and solitary studies, so far as you can, all that are 
around you. You will remember that all communication is 
forbidden. Wliispering, making signs, writing upon paper 
or a slate, bowing to any one, and, in fact, every possible way 
by which one person may have any sort of mental intercourse 
* This apparatus has been previously described. See p. 47. 



MOUNT VERNON SCHOOL. 209 

with another, is wrong. A large number of the scholars take 
a pride and pleasure in carrying this rule into as perfect an 
observance as possible. They say that as this is the only 
rule with which I trouble them, they ought certainly to ob- 
serve this faithfully. I myself, however, put it upon other 
ground. I am satisfied that it is better and pleasanter for 
you to observe it most rigidly, if it is attempted to be en- 
forced at all. 

You will ask, " Can not we obtain permission of you or of 
the teachers to leave our seats or to whisper if it is necessa- 
ry?" The answer is "No." You must never ask permis- 
sion of me or of the teachers. You can leave seats or speak 
at the direction of the teachers, that is, when they of their own 
accord ask you to do it, but you are never to ask their per- 
mission. If you should, and if any teachers should give you 
permission, it would be of no avail. I have never given 
them authority to grant any permissions of the kind. 

You will then say, " Are we never, on any occasion what- 
ever, to leave our seats in study hours'?" Yes, you are. 
There are tw^o ways : 

1. At the direction of teachers. — Going to and from recita- 
tions is considered as at the direction of teachers. So, if a 
person is requested by a teacher to transact any business, or 
is elected to a public office, or appointed upon a committee, 
leaving seats or speaking, so fiir as is really necessary for the 
accomplishing such a purpose, is considered as at the direc- 
tion of teachers, and is consequently right. In the same 
manner, if a teacher should ask you individually, or give gen- 
eral notice to the members of a class, to come to her seat for 
private instruction, or to go to any part of the school-room 
for her, it would be right to do it. The distinction, you ob- 
serve, is this: the teacher may, of her oivn accord, direct any 
leaving of seats which she may think necessary to accomplish 
the objects of the school. She must not, however, at the re- 
quest of an individual, for the sake of her mere private conve- 



210 THE TEACHER. 

nience, give her permission to speak or to leave her seat. If, 
for example, a teacher should say to you in your class, " As 
soon as you have performed a certain work you may bring it 
to me," you would, in bringing it, be acting under her di- 
rection, and would consequently do right. If, however, you 
should want a pencil, and should ask her to give you leaver 
to borrow it, even if she should give you leave you would do 
wrong to go, for you would not be acting at her direction, 
but simply by her consent, and she has no authority to grant 
consent. 

2. The second case in which you may leave your seat is 
when some very uncommon occurrence takes place, which is 
sufficient reason for suspending all rules. If your neighbor 
is faint, you may speak to her, and, if necessary, lead her out. 
If your mother or some other friend should come into the 
school-room, you can go and sit with her upon the sofa, and 
talk about the school.* And so in many other similar cases. 
Be very careful not to abuse this privilege, and make slight 
causes the grounds of your exceptions. It ought to be a very 
clear case. If a young lady is unwell in a trifling degree, so 
as to need no assistance, you would evidently do wrong to 
talk to her. The rule, in fact, is very similar to that which 
all well-bred people observe at church. They never speak 
or leave their seats unless some really important cause, such 
as sickness, requires them to break over all rules and go out. 
You have, in the same manner, in really important cases, such 
as serious sickness in your own case or in that of your com- 
panions, or the coming in of a stranger, or any thing else 
equally extraordinary, power to lay aside any rule, and to act 
as the emergency may require. In using this discretion, how- 
ever, be sure to be on the safe side. In such cases, never ask 
permission. You must act on your own responsibility. 
Reasons for this ride. — When the school was first estab- 
* A sofa was placed against the wall, by the side of the teachers' desk, 
for the accommodation of visitors. 



MOUNT VERNON SCHOOL. 211 

lished, there was no absolute prohibition of whispering. 
Each scholar was allowed to whisper in relation to her stud- 
ies. They were often, very often, enjoined to be conscien- 
tious and faithful, but, as might have been anticipated, the 
experiment failed. It was almost universally the practice to 
whisper more or less about subjects entirely foreign to the 
business of the school. This all the scholars repeatedly ac- 
knowledged ; and they almost unanimously admitted that the 
good of the school required the prohibition of all communi- 
cation during certain hours. I gave them their choice, either 
always to ask permission when they wished to speak, or to 
have a certain time allowed for the purpose, during which 
free intercommunication might be allowed to all the school, 
with the understanding, however, that, out of this time, no 
permission should ever be asked or granted. They very wise- 
ly chose the latter plan, and the Study Card was constructed 
and put up, to mark the times of free communication and of 
silent study. The card was at first down every half hour for 
one or two minutes. The scholars afterward thinking that 
their intellectual habits would be improved and the welfare 
of the school promoted by their having a longer time for un- 
interrupted study, of their own accord, without any influence 
from me, proposed that the card should be down only once 
an hour. This plan was adopted by them by vote. I wish 
it to be understood that it was not my plan, but theirs; and 
that I am at any time willing to have the Study Card down 
once in half an hour, whenever a majority of the scholars, 
voting by ballot, desire it. 

You will find that this system of having a distinct time 
for whispering, when all may whisper freely, all communica- 
tion being entirely excluded at other times, will at first give 
you some trouble. It will be hard for you, if you are not 
accustomed to it, to learn conscientiously and faithfully to 
comply. Besides, at first you will often need some little in- 
formation or desire to ask for an article which you might ob- 



212 THE TEACHER. 

tain in a moment, but which you can not innocently ask foi' 
till the card is down, and this might keep you waiting an 
hour. You will, however, after a few such instances, soon 
learn to make your preparations beforehand, and if you arc 
a girl of enlarged views and elevated feelings, you will good- 
humoredly acquiesce in suiFering a little inconvenience your- 
self for the sake of helping to preserve those distinct and well 
defined lines by which all boundaries must be marked in a 
large establishment, if order and system are to be preserved 
at all. 

Though at first you may experience a little inconvenience, 
you will soon take pleasure in the scientific strictness of the 
plan. It will gratify you to observe the profound stillness 
of the room where a hundred are studying. You will take 
pleasure in observing the sudden transition from the silence 
of study hours to the joyful sounds and the animating activ- 
ity of recess when the Study Card goes down ; and then 
when it rises again at the close of the recess, you Avill be 
gratified to observe how suddenly the sounds which have filled 
the air, and made the room so lively a scene, are hushed into 
silence by the single and almost inaudible touch of that little 
bell. You will take pleasure in this ; for young and old al- 
ways take pleasure in the strict and rigid operation of system 
rather than in laxity and disorder. I am convinced, also, 
that the scholars do like the operation of this plan, for I do 
not have to make any efforts to sustain it. With the excep- 
tion that occasionally, usually not oftener than once in sev- 
eral months, I allude to the subject, and that chiefly on ac- 
count of a few careless and unfaithful individuals, I have lit- 
tle to say or to do to maintain the authority of the Study 
Card. Most of the scholars obey it of their own accord, im- 
plicitly and cordially. And I believe they consider this faith- 
ful monitor not only one of the most useful, but one of the 
most agreeable friends they have. We should not only regret 
its services, but miss its company if it should be taken away- 



MOUNT VERNON SCHOOL. 213 

Tliis rogulation then, namely, to abstain from all commu- 
nication with one another, and from all leaving of seats, at 
certain times which are marked by the position of the Study 
Card, is the only one which can properly be called a rule of 
the school. Tliere are a great many arrangements and plans 
relating to the instruction of the pupils, but no other specific 
rules relating to their conduct. You are, of course, while in 
the school, under the same moral obligations which rest upon 
you elsewhere. You must be kind to one another, respectful 
to superiors, and quiet and orderly in your deportment. You 
must do nothing to encroach upon another's rights, or to in- 
terrupt and disturb your companions in their pursuits. You 
must not produce disorder, or be wasteful of the public prop- 
erty, or do any thing else which you might know is in itself 
wrong. But you are to avoid these things, not because there 
are any rules in this school against them, for there are none, 
but because they are in themselves wrong — in all places and 
under all circumstances, wrong. The universal and un- 
changeable principles of duty are the same here as elsewhere. 
I do not make rules pointing them out, but expect that you 
will, through your own conscience and moral principle, dis- 
cover and obey them. 

It is wrong, for instance, for you to speak harshly or un- 
kindly to your companions, or to do any thing to wound their 
feelings unnecessarily, in any way. But this is a universal 
principle of duty, not a rule of school. 

So it is wrong for you to be rude and noisy, and thus dis- 
turb others who are studying, or to brush by them carelessly, 
so as to jostle them at their writing or derange their books. 
But to be careful not to do injury to others in the reckless 
pursuit of our own pleasures is a universal principle of duty, 
not a rule of school. 

Such a case as this, for example, once occurred. A num- 
ber of little girls began to amuse themselves in recess with 
running about among the desks in pursuit of one another. 



2U 



THE TEACHER. 



and they told me, in excuse for it, when I called them to ac- 
count, that they did not know that it was " against the rule.''^ 




'' It is not against the rule," said I ; " I have never made 
any rule against running about among the desks." 

"Then," asked they, "did we do wrong f 

" Do you think it would be a good plan," I inquired, " to 
have it a common amusement in the recess for the girls to 
hunt each other among the desks?" 

*'No, sir," they replied, simultaneously. 

" Why not ? There are some reasons. I do not know, 
however, whether you will have the ingenuity to think of 
them." 

" We may start the desks from their places," said one. 

"Yes," said I, "they are fastened down very slightly, so 
that I may easily alter their position." 

" We might upset the inkstands," said another. 

" Sometimes," added a third, " we run against the schol- 
ars who are sitting in their seats." 

"It seems, then, you have ingenuity enough to discover 



MOUNT VEKNON SCHOOL. 215 

the reasons. Why did not these reasons prevent your doing- 
it r 

" We did not think of them before." 

*' True ; that is the exact state of the case. Now, when 
persons are so eager to promote their own enjoyment as to 
forget the rights and the comforts of others, it is selfishness. 
Now is there any rule in this school against selfishness?" 

"No, sir." 

"You are right. There is not. But selfishness is MTong, 
very "v\Tong, in whatever form it appears, here and every 
where 'else, and that whether I make any rules against it or 
not." 

You will see, from this anecdote, that, though there is but 
one rule of the school, I by no means intend to say that there 
is only one icay of doing ivrong here. That would be very ab- 
surd. You must not do any thing ivhich you may know, hy prop- 
er reflection, to he in itself ivrong. This, however, is a univer- 
sal principle of duty, not a rule of the Mount Yernon School. 
If I should attempt to make rules which would specify and 
prohibit every possible way by which you might do wrong, 
my laws would be innumerable, and even then I should fail 
of securing my object, unless you had the disposition to do 
your duty. No legislation can enact laws as fast as a per- 
verted ingenuity can find means to evade them. 

You will perhaps ask what will be the consequence if we 
transgress either the single rule of the school or any of the 
great principles of duty. In other words, What are the pun- 
ishments which are resorted to in the Mount Vernon School ? 
The answer is, there are no punishments. I do not say that 
I should not, in case all other means should fail, resort to 
the most decisive measures to secure obedience and subordi- 
nation. Most certainly I should do so, as it would plainly 
be my duty to do it. If you should at any time be so un- 
happy as to violate your obhgations to yourself, to your com- 
panions, or to me— should you misimprove your time, or ex- 



216 THE TEACHER. 

hibit an unkind or a selfish spirit, or be disrespectful or in- 
subordinate' to your teachers, I should go frankly and open- 
ly, but kindly to you, and endeavor to convince you of your 
fault. I should very probably do this by addressing a note 
to you, as I suppose this would be less unpleasant to you 
than a conversation. In such a case, I shall hope that you 
will as frankly and openly reply, telling me whether you ad- 
mit your foult and are determined to amend, or else inform- 
ing me of the contrary. I shall wish you to be sincere, and 
then I shall know what course to take next. But as to the 
consequences which may result to you if you should persist 
in what is Avrong, it is not necessary that you should know 
them beforehand. They who wander from duty always 
plunge themselves into troubles which they do not anticipate ; 
and if you do what, at the time you are doing it, you know 
to be wrong, it will not be unjust that you should suffer the 
consequences, even if they were not beforehand understood 
and expected. This will be the case with you all through 
life, and it will be the case here. 

I say it ivill be the case here ; I ought rather to say that 
it will be the case should you be so unhappy as to do wrong 
and to persist in it. Such persistance, however, never occurs 
— at least it occurs so seldom, and at intervals so great, that 
every thing of the nature of punishment, that is, the depriv- 
ing a pupil of any enjoyment, or subjecting her to any dis- 
grace, or giving her pain in any way in consequence of her 
faults, except the simple pain of awakening conscience in her 
bosom, is almost entirely unknown. I hoj^e that you will 
always be ready to confess and forsake your faults, and en- 
deavor, while you remain in school, to improve in character, 
and attain, as far as possible, every moral excellence. 

I ought to remark, before dismissing this topic, that I place 
very great confidence in the scholars in regard to their moral 
conduct and deportment, and they fully deserve it. I have 
no care and no trouble in what is commonly called the gov- 



MOUNT VERNOJN' SCHOOL. 217 

ernment of the school. Neither myself nor any one else is em- 
ployed in any way in watching the scholars, or keeping any 
sort of accomit of them. I should not at any time hesitate 
to call all the teachers into an adjoining room, leaving the 
school alone for half an hour, and I should be confident that, 
at "such a time, order, and stillness, and attention to study 
would prevail as much as ever. The scholars would not 
look to see whether I was in my desk, but whether the Study 
Card was up. The school was left in this way, half an hour 
every day, during a quarter, that we might have a teachers' 
meeting, and the studies went on generally quite as well, to 
say the least, as when the teachers were present. One or 
two instances of irregular conduct occurred. I do not now 
recollect precisely what they were. They were, however, 
fully acknowledged and not repeated, and I believe the schol- 
ars were generally more scrupulous and faithful then than at 
other times. They w^ould not betray the confidence reposed 
in them. This plan was continued until it was found more 
convenient to have the teachers' meetings in the afternoons. 

When any thing wrong is done in school, I generally state 
the case, and request the individuals who have done it to let 
me know who they are. They inform me sometimes by notes 
and sometimes in conversation ; but they always inform me. 
The plan always succeeds. The scholars all know that there 
is nothing to be feared from confessing faults to me ; but that, 
on the other hand, it is a most direct and certain way to se- 
cure returning peace and happiness. 

I can illustrate this by describing a case which actually 
occurred, though the description is not to be considered so 
much an accurate account of what took place in a particular 
instance as an illustration of the general spirit and manner in 
which such cases are disposed of. I accidentally understood 
that some of the younger scholars were in the habit, during 
recesses and after school, of ringing the door-bell and then 
running away, to amuse themselves with the perplexity of 



218 THE TEACHER. 

their companions who should go to the door and find no one 
there. I explained in a few words, one day, to the school, 
that this was wrong. 

"How many," I then asked, ''have ever been put to the 
trouble to go to the door when the bell has thus been rung ? 
They may rise." 

A very large number of scholars stood up. Those who 
had done the mischief were evidently surprised at the extent 
of the trouble they had occasioned. 

"Now," I continued, "I think all will be convinced that 
the trouble which this practice has occasioned to the fifty or 
sixty young ladies, who can not be expected to find amuse- 
ment in such a way, is far greater than the pleasure it can 
have given to the few who are young enough to have enjoyed 
it. Therefore it was wrong. Do you think that the girls who 
rang the bell might have known this by proper reflection ?" 

" Yes, sir," the school generally answered. 

" I do not mean," said I, "if they had set themselves for- 
mally at work to think about the subject, but with such a 
degree of reflection as ought reasonably to be expected of 
little girls in the hilarity of recess and of play." 

" Yes, sir," was still the reply, but fainter than before. 

" There is one way by which I might ascertain whether 
you were old enough to know that this was wrong, and that 
is by asking those who have refrained from doing this, be- 
cause they supposed it would be wrong, to rise. Then, if 
some of the youngest scholars in school should stand up, as I 
have no doubt they would, it would prove that all might 
have known, if they had been equally conscientious. But if 
I ask those to rise who have not rung the bell, I shall make 
known to the whole school who they are that have done it, 
and I wish that the exposure of faults should be private, un- 
less it is necessat^ that it should be public. I will, therefore, 
not do it. I have myself, however, no doubt that all might 
have knoMTi that it was wron^. 



MOUNT VERNON SCHOOL. 219 

"There is," continued I, "another injury which must 
grow out of such a practice. This I should not have expect- 
ed the little girls could think of. In fact, I doubt whether 
any in school will think of it. Can any one tell me what 
it isf' 

No one replied. 

" I should suppose that it would lead you to disregard the 
bell when it rings, and that consequently a gentleman or lady 
might sometimes ring in vain, the scholars near the door say- 
ing, ' Oh, it is only the little girls.' " 

" Yes, sir," was heard from all parts of the room. 

I found, from farther inquiry, that this had been the case, 
and I closed by saying, 

" I am satisfied that those who have inadvertently fallen 
into this practice are sorry for it, and that if I should leave 
it here, no more cases of it would occur, and this is all I 
wish. At the same time, they who have done this will feel 
more effectually relieved from the pain which having done 
wrong must necessarily give them, if they individually ac- 
knowledge it to me. I wish, therefore, that all who have 
thus rung the bell in play would write me notes stating the 
facts. If any one does not do it, she will punish herself se- 
verely, for she will feel for many days to come that while 
her companions were willing to acknowledge their faults, she 
wished to conceal and cover hers. Conscience will reproach 
her bitterly for her insincerity, and, whenever she hears the 
sound of the .door-bell, it will remind her not only of her 
fault, but of what is far worse, her willingness to api^ear inno- 
cent ivhen she icas really guilty.'''' 

Before tbe close of the school I had eight or ten notes ac- 
knowledging the fault, describing the circumstances of each 
case, and expressing promises to do so no more. 

It is by such methods as this, rather than by threatening 
and punishment, that I manage the cases of discipline which 
from time to time occur ; but even such as this, slight as it 



220 THE TEACHEK. 

is, occur very seldom. Weeks and weeks sometimes elapse 
without one. When they do occur, they are always easily 
settled by confession and reform. Sometimes I am asked to 
forgive the offense. But I have no power to forgive. God 
must forgive you when you do wrong, or the burden must 
remain. My duty is to take measures to prevent future 
transgression, and to lead those who have been guilty of it 
to God for pardon. If they do not go to Him, though they 
may satisfy me, as principal of a school, by not repeating the 
offence, they must remain unforgiven. I can forget, and I do 
forget. For example, in this last case I have not the slight- 
est recollection of any individual who was engaged in it. 
The evil was entirely removed, and had it not afforded me a 
convenient illustration here, perhaps I should never have 
thought of it again ; still, it may not yet ho, forgiven. It may 
seem strange that I should speak so seriously of God's for- 
giveness for such a trifle as that. Does He notice a child's 
ringing a door-bell in play? He notices when a child is 
willing to yield to temptation to do what she knows to be 
wrong, and to act even in the slightest trifle from a selfish 
disregard for the convenience of others. This spirit He al- 
ways notices, and though I may stop any particular form of 
its exhibition, it is for Him alone to forgive it and to purify 
the heart from its power. But I shall speak more particu- 
larly on this subject under the head of Religious Instruction. 

II. ORDER OF DAILY EXERCISES. 

There will be given you, when you enter the school, a blank 
schedule, in which the divisions of each forenoon for one 
week are marked, and in which your own employments for 
every half hour are to be written. (A copy of this is inserted 
on page 222.) 

This schedule, when filled up, forms a sort of a map for the 
week, in which you can readily find what are your duties for 



MOUNT VERNON SCHOOL. 221 

any particular time. The following description will enable 
you better to understand it. 

Opening of the School 

The first thing which will call your attention as the hour 
for the commencement of the school approaches in the morn- 
ing is the ringing of a bell five minutes before the time ar- 
rives by the regulator, who sits at the curtained desk before 
the Study Card. One minute before the time the bell is 
rung again, which is the signal for all to take their seats and 
prepare for the opening of the school. When the precise 
moment arrives, the Study Card is drawn up, and at the 
sound of its little bell, all the scholars recline their heads upon 
their desks, and unite with me in a very short prayer for God's 
protection and blessing during the day. I adopted the plan 
of allowing the scholars to sit, because I thought it would be 
pleasanter for them, and they have, in return, been generally, 
so far as I know, faithful in complying with my wish that 
they would all assume the posture proposed, so that the 
school may present the uniform and serious aspect which is 
proper when we are engaged in so solemn a duty. If you 
move your chair back a little, you will find the posture not 
inconvenient ; but the only reward you will have for faithfully 
complying with the general custom is the pleasure of doing 
your duty, for no one watches you, and you would not be 
called to account should you neglect to conform to the usage 
of the school. 

I hope, however, that you will conform to it. Indeed, all 
truly refined and well-bred people make it a universal rule 
of life to conform to the innocent religious usages of those 
around them, wherever they may be. 

After the prayer w^e sing one or two verses of a hymn. 
The music is led by a piano, and we wish all to join in it 
who can sing. The exercises which follow are exhibited to 
the eye by the diagram on the next page. 



222 



THE TEACHER. 



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MOUNT VERNON SCHOOL. 2*16 

I now proceed to describe in detail the several hours, as 
represented in the diagram. 

First Hour. — Evening Lessons. 

The first hour of the day, as you will see by the schedule, 
is marked evening lessons, because most, though not all, of 
the studies assigned to it are intended to be prepared out of 
school. These studies are miscellaneous in their character, 
comprising Geography, History, Natural and Intellectual 
Philosophy, and Natural History. This hour, like all the 
other hours for study, is divided into two equal parts, some 
classes reciting in the first part, and others in the second. A 
bell is always Yxxngjive tninutes before the time for closing the 
recitation, to give the teachers notice that their time is near- 
ly expired, and then again at the time, to give notice to new 
classes to take their places. Thus you will observe that five 
minutes before the half hour expires the bell will ring, soon 
after which the classes in recitation will take their seats. 
Precisely at the end of the half hour it will ring again, when 
new classes will take their places. In the same manner, no- 
tice is given five minutes before the second half of the hour 
expires, and so in all the other three hours. 

At the end of the first hour the Study Card will be let 
half down five minutes, and you will perceive that the sound 
of its bell will immediately produce a decided change in the 
whole aspect of the room. It is the signal, as has been be- 
fore explained, for universal permission to whisper and to 
leave seats, though not for loud talking or play, so that those 
who wish to continue their studies may do so without inter- 
ruption. When the five-minute period has expired the card 
goes up again, and its sound immediately restores silence and 
order. 

Second Hour. — Languages. 
We then commence the second hour of the school. This 



-224 THE TEACHER. 

is devoted to the study of the languages. The Latin, French, 
and English classes recite at this time. By English classes I 
mean those studying the English as a language, that is, class- 
es in Gra.mmar, Rhetoric, and Composition. The hour is 
divided as the first hour is, and the bell is rung in the same 
way, that is, at the close of each half hour, and also five min- 
utes before the close, to give the classes notice that the time 
for recitation is about to expire. 

First General Exercise. 
You will observe, then, that there follows upon the sched- 
ule a quarter of an hour marked G. Tliat initial stands for 
General Exercise, and when it arrives each pupil is to lay 
aside her work, and attend to any exercise which may be 
proposed. This quarter of an hour is appropriated to a great 
variety of purposes. Sometimes I give a short and familiar 
lecture on some useful subject connected with science or art, 
or the principles of duty. Sometimes we have a general 
reading lesson. Sometimes we turn the school into a Bible 
class. Again, the time is occupied in attending to some gen- 
eral business of the school. The bell is rung one minute be- 
fore the close of the time, and when the period appropriated 
to this purpose has actually expired, the Study Card, for the 
first time in the morning, is let entirely down, and the room 
is at once suddenly transformed into a scene of life, and mo- 
tion, and gayety. 

Fii^st Eecess. 
The time for the recess is a quarter of an hour, and, as you 
will see, it is marked R. on the schedule. AVe have various 
modes of amusing ourselves, and finding exercise and recrea- 
tion in recesses. Sometimes the girls bring their battledores 
to school. Sometimes they have a large number of soft balls 
with which they amuse themselves. A more common amuse- 
ment is TYiarching to the music of the piano. For this pur- 



MOUNT VEKNON SCHOOL. 225 

pose a set of signals by the whistle has been devised, by which 
commands are communicated to the school. 

In these and similar amusements the recesses pass away, 
and one minute before it expires the bell is rung to give no- 
tice of the approach of study hours. 

At this signal the scholars begin to prepare for a return to 
the ordinary duties of school, and when, at the full expiration 
of the recess, the Study Card again goes up, silence, and at- 
tention, and order is immediately restored. 

Third Hour. — Mathematics. . 
There follows next, as you will see by reference to the 
schedule, an hour marked Mathematics. It is time for study- 
ing and reciting Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, and similar 
studies. It is divided, as the previous hours were, into two 
equal parts, and the bell is rung, as has been described, five 
minutes before the close, and also precisely at the close of 
each half hour. 

Second General Exercise. — Business. 

Then follow two quarter hours, appropriated like those 
heretofore described, the first to a General Exercise, the sec- 
ond to a recess. At the first of these the general business 
of the school is transacted. As this business will probably 
appear new to you, and will attract your attention, I will 
describe its nature and design. 

At first you will observe a young lady rise at the secreta- 
ry's desk to read a journal of what was done the day before. 
The notices which I gave, the arrangements I made, the sub- 
jects discussed and decided, and, in fact, every thing impor- 
tant and interesting in the business or occurrences of the pre- 
ceding day, is recorded by the secretary of the school, and 
read at this time. This journal ought not to be a mere dry 
record of votes and business, but, as far as possible, an inter- 
esting description, in a narrative style, of the occurrences of 

K2 



226 THE TEACHER. 

the day. The secretary must keep a memorandum, and as- 
certain that every thing important really finds a place in the 
record, but she may employ any good writer in school to 
prepare, from her minutes, the full account. 

After the record is read, you will observe me take from a 
little red morocco wrapper which has been brought to my 
desk a number of narrow slips of paper, which I am to read 
aloud. In most assembhes, it is customary for any person 
wishing it to rise in his place and propose any plan, or, as it 
is called, " make any motion" that he pleases. It would be 
unpleasant for a young lady to do this in presence of a hund- 
red companions, and we have consequently resorted to anoth- 
er plan. The red wrapper is placed in a part of the room 
accessible to all, and any one who pleases writes upon a nar- 
row slip of paper any thing she wishes to lay before the school, 
and deposits it there, and at the appointed time the Avhole 
ai^e brought to me. These propositions are of various kinds. 
I can, perhaps, best give you an idea of them by such spec- 
imens as occur to me. 

"A. B. resigns her office of copyist, as she is about to leave school." 
'" Proposed that a class in Botany be formed. There are many who 
would like to join it." 

" When will vacation commence ?" 

" Proposed that a music committee be appointed, so that we can 
have some marching in recess." 

*' Proposed that school begin at nine o'clock." 

'* Mr. Abbott, will you have the goodness to explain to us what is 
meant by the Veto Message T' 

"Proposed that we have locks upon our desks." 

You see that the variety is very great, and there are usu- 
ally from four or five to ten or fifteen of such papers daily. 
You will be at liberty to make in this way any suggestion 
or inquiry, or to propose any change you please in any part 
of the instruction or administration of the school. If any 
thing dissatisfies you, you ought not to murmur at it in pri- 
vate, or complain of it to your companions, thus injuring to 



MOUNT VERKON SCHOOL. 227 

no purpose both your own peace and happiness and theirs, 
but you ought immediately to bring up the subject in the way 
above described, that the evil may be removed. I receive 
some of the most valuable suggestions in this way from the 
older and most reflecting pupils. These suggestions are read. 
Sometimes I decide the question that arises myself Some- 
times I say that the pupils may decide it. Sometimes I ask 
their opinion and washes, and then, after taking them into 
consideration, come to a conclusion. 

For example, I will insert a few of these propositions, as 
these papers are called, describing the way in which they 
Would be disposed of. Most of them are real cases. 

" Mr. Abbott, the first class in Geography is so large that we have 
not room in the recitation seats. Can not we have another place 1" 

After reading this, I should perhaps say, 
" The class in Geography may rise and be counted." 
They rise. Those in each division are counted by the 
proper officer, as will hereafter be explained, and the numbers 
are reported aloud to me. It is all done in a moment. 

" How many of you think you need better accommoda- 
tions?" 

If a majority of hands are raised, I say, 
" I wish the teacher of that class would ascertain whether 
any other place of recitation is vacant, or occupied by a 
smaller class at that time, and report the case to me." 

" Proposed that we be allowed to walk upon the common in the re- 



" I should like to have some plan formed by which you 
can walk on the common in recesses, but there are difficul- 
ties. If all should go out together, it is probable that some 
would be rude and noisy, and that others would come back 
tardy and out of breath. Besides, as the recess is short, so 
many would be in haste to prepare to go out, that there would 
be a great crowd and much confusion in the ante-room and 
passage-ways. I do not mention these as insuperable obiec^ 



'22S THE TEACHEK. 

tions, but only as difficulties which there must be some plan 
to avoid. Perhaps, however, they can not be avoided. Do 
any of you think of any plan ?" 

I see, perhaps, two or three hands raised, and call upon the 
individuals by name, and they express their opinions. One 
says that a part can go out at a time. Another proposes that 
those who are tardy one day should not go out again, &c. 

"I think it possible that a plan can be formed on these or 
some such principles. Kyou will appoint a committee who 
will prepare a plan, and mature its details, and take charge 
of the execution of it, you may try the experiment. I will 
allow it to go on as long as you avoid the evils I have above 
alluded to." 

A committee is then raised, to report in writing at the 
business hour of the following day. 

" Proposed that the Study Card be down every half hour." 

" You may decide this question yourselves. That you may 
vote more freely, I wish you to vote by ballot. The boxes 
will be open during the next recess. The vote-receivers will 
write the question and place it upon the boxes. All who 
feel interested in the subject may carry in their votes. Aye 
or Nay. When the result is reported to me I wdll read it 
to the school." 

In this and similar ways the various business brought up 
is disposed of. This custom is useful to the scholars, for it 
exercises and strengthens their judgment and their reflecting 
powers more than almost any thing besides; so that, if inter- 
esting them in this way in the management of the school 
were of no benefit to me, I should retain the practice as most 
valuable to them. But it is most useful to me and to the 
school. I think that nothing has contributed more to its 
prosperity than the active interest which the scholars have 
always taken in its concerns, and the assistance they have 
rendered me in cariying my plans into effect. 



MOUNT VEltSON SCHOOL. 229 

You -^dll observe that in transacting this business very 
little is actually done by myself, except making the ultimate 
decision. All the details of business are assigned to teach- 
ers, or to officers and committees appointed for the purpose. 
By this means we dispatch business very rapidly. The sys- 
tem of offices will be explained in another place ; but I may 
say here that all appointments and elections are made in this 
quarter hour, and by means of the assistance of these officers 
the transaction of business is so facilitated that much more 
can sometimes be accomplished than you would suppose pos- 
sible. I consider this period as one of the most important 
in the whole morning. 

Second Eecess. 
After the expiration of the quarter hour above described, 
the Study Card is dropped, and a recess succeeds. 

Fourth Hour. — Sections. 
In all the former part of the day the scholars are divided 
into classes, according to their proficiency in particular branch- 
es of study, and they resort to their recitations for instruction. 
They now are divided into six sections, as we call them, and 
placed under the care of sujierintendents, not for instruction, 
but for what may be called supervision. Teaching a jjupil is 
not all that is necessary to be done for her in school. There 
are many other things to be attended to, such as supplying 
her with the various articles necessary for her use, seeing that 
her desk is convenient, that her time is well arranged, that 
she has not too much to do nor too little, and that no diffi- 
culty which can be removed obstructs her progress in study 
or her happiness in school. The last hour is appropriated to 
this purpose, wdth the understanding, however, that such a 
portion of it as is not wanted by the superintendent is to be 
spent in study. You will see, then, when the last hour ar- 
rives, that all the scholars go in various directions to the 



230 THE TEACHER. 

meetings of their respective sections. Here they remain as 
long as the superintendent retains them. Sometimes they 
adjourn almost immediately, perhaps after having simply at- 
tended to the distribution of pens for the next day ; at other 
times they remain during the hour, attending to such exer- 
cises as tlie superintendent may plan. The design, however, 
and nature of this whole arrangement I shall explain more 
fully in another place. 

Close of the School. 
As the end of the hour approaches, five minutes' notice is 
given by the bell, and when the time arrives the Study Card 
is half dropped for a moment before the closing exercises. 
When it rises again the room is restored to silence and order. 
We then sing a verse or two of a hymn, and commend our- 
selves to God's protection in a short prayer. As the schol- 
ars raise their heads from the posture of reverence which 
they have assumed, they pause a moment till the regulator 
lets down the Study Card, and the sound of its bell is the 
signal that our duties at school are ended for the day. 

III. INSTRUCTION AND SUPERVISION OF PUPILS. 

For the instruction of the pupils the school is divided into 
classes, and for their general supervision into sections, as has 
been intimated under the preceding caption. The head of a 
class is called a teacher, and the head of a section a siqierin" 
tendent. The same individual may be both the teacher of a 
class and the superintendent of a section. The two offices 
are, however, entirely distinct in their nature and design. 
As you will perceive by recalling to mind the daily order of 
exercises, the classes meet and recite during the first three 
hours of the school, and the sections assemble on the fourth 
and last. We shall give each a separate description. 



MOUNT VERNON SCHOOL. 231 

1. CLASSES. 

The object of the division into classes is instruction. When- 
ever it is desirable that several individuals should pursue a 
particular study, a list of their names is made out, a book se- 
lected, a time for recitation assigned, a teacher appointed, and 
the exercises begin. In this way a large number of classes 
have been formed, and the wishes of parents, or the opinion 
of the principal, and, in many cases, that of the pupil, de- 
termines how many and what shall be assigned to each indi- 
vidual. A list of these classes, with the average age of the 
members, the name of the teacher, and the time of recitation, 
is posted in a conspicuous place, and public notice is given 
whenever a new class is formed. You will therefore have 
the opportunity to know all the arrangements of school in 
this respect, and I wish you to exercise your own judgment 
and discretion a great deal in regard to your studies. I do 
not mean I expect you to decide, but to reflect upon them. 
Look at the list, and consider what are most useful for you. 
Propose to me or to your parents changes, whenever you 
think they are necessary ; and when you finish one study, re- 
flect carefully, yourself, on the question what you shall next 
commence. 

The scholars prepare their lessons when they please. They 
are expected to be present and prepared at the time of reci- 
tation, but they make the preparation when it is most conven- 
ient. The more methodical and systematic of the young la- 
dies mark the times of study as well as of recitation upon their 
schedules, so that the employment of their whole time at 
school is regulated by a systematic plan. You will observe, 
too, that by this plan of having a great many classes reciting 
through the first three hours of the morning, every pupil can 
be employed as much or as little as her parents desire. In a 
case of ill health, she may, as has often been done in such 
cases at the request of parents, join one or two classes only. 



232 THE TEACHER. 

and occupy the whole forenoon in preparing for them, and be 
entirely free from school duties at home. Or she may, as is 
much more frequently the case, choose to join a great many 
classes, so as to fill up, perhaps, her whole schedule with rec- 
itations, in which case she must prepare all her lessons at 
home. It is the duty of teachers to take care, however, when 
a pupil pleads want of time as a reason for being unprepared 
in any lesson, that the case is fully examined, in order that 
it may be ascertained whether the individual has joined too 
many classes, in which case some one should be dropped, and 
thus the time and the employments of each individual should 
be so adjusted as to give her constant occupation in school^. 
and as much more as her parents may desire. By this plan 
of the classes, each scholar advances just as rapidly in her 
studies as her time, and talents, and health will allow. No 
one is kept back by the rest. Each class goes on regularly 
and systematically, all its members keeping exactly together 
in that study ; but the various members of it will have joined 
a greater or less number of other classes, according to their 
age, or abilities, or progress in study, so that all will or may 
have full employment for their time. 

When you first enter the school, you will, for a day or two, 
be assigned to but few classes, for your mind will be distract- 
ed by the excitement of new scenes and pursuits, and the in- 
tellectual effort necessary ^or joining a class is greater than 
that requisite for going on with it after being once under 
way. After a few days you will come to me and say, per- 
haps (for this is ordinarily the process), 

" Mr. Abbott, I think I have time for some more studies." 

"I will thank you to bring me your schedule," I say in 
reply, "so that I can see what you have now to do." 

By glancing my eye over the schedule in such a case, I see 
in a moment what duties have been already assigned you, and 
from my general schedule, containing all the studies of the 
school, I select what would be most suitable for vou after 



MOUNT VERNON SCHOOL. 2oo 

conferring with you about your past pursuits, and your own 
wishes or those of your parents in regard to your future 
course. Additions are thus made until your time is fully oc- 
cupied. 

The manner of recitation in the classes is almost boundless- 
ly varied. The design is not to have you commit to memory 
what the book contains, but to understand and digest it — to 
incorporate it fully into your own mind, that it may come 
up in future life in such a form as you wish it for use. Do 
not then, in ordinary cases, endeavor to fix icoixJs, but ideas in 
your minds. Conceive clearly — paint distinctly to your im- 
agination what is described — contemplate facts in all their 
bearings and relations, and thus endeavor to exercise the 
judgment, and the thinking and reasoning powers, rather 
than the mere memory, upon the subjects which will come 
before you. 

2. SECTIONS. 

In describing the order of daily exercises, I alluded to the 
sections which assemble in the last hour of the school. It is 
necessary that I should fully describe the system of sections, 
as it constitutes a very important part of the plan of the 
school. 

Besides giving the scholars the necessary intellectual in- 
struction, there are, as I have already remarked, a great many 
other points which must receive attention in order to pro- 
mote their progress, and to secure the regular operation and 
general welfare of the school. These various points have 
something common in their nature, but it is difficult to give 
them a common name. They are such as supplying the pu- 
pils with pens and paper, and stationery of other kinds ; be- 
coming acquainted with each individual ; ascertaining that 
she has enough and not too much to do ; arranging her work 
so that no one of her duties shall interfere with another ; as- 



234 THE TEACHER. 

sisting her to discover and correct her faults, and removing 
any sources of difficulty or causes of discontent which may 
gradually come in her way. These, and a multitude of sim- 
ilar points, constituting what may be called the general ad- 
ministration of the school, become, when the number of pupils 
is large, a most important branch of the teacher's duty. 

To accomplish these objects more effectually, the school is 
divided into six sections, arranged, not according to profi- 
ciency in particular studies, as the several classes are, but ac- 
cording to age and general maturity of mind. Each one of 
these sections is assigned to the care of a superintendent. 
These superintendents, it is true, during most of school hours, 
are also teachers. Their duties, however, as Teachers and as 
Sujjerintendents, are entirely distinct. I shall briefly enumer- 
ate the duties which devolve upon her in the latter capacity. 

1. A superintendent ought to prepare an exact list of the 
members of her section, and to become intimately acquainted 
with them, so as to be as far as possible their friend and con- 
fidante, and to feel a stronger interest in their progress in 
study and their happiness in school, and a greater personal 
attachment to them than to any other scholars. 

2. She is to superintend the preparation of their schedules; 
to see that each one has enough and not too much to do, by 
making known to me the necessity of a change, where such 
necessity exists ; to see that the schedules are submitted to 
the parents, and that their opinion or suggestions, if they 
wish to make any, are reported to me. 

3. She is to take care that all the daily wants of her sec- 
tion are supplied — that all have pens and paper, and desks of 
suitable height. If any are new scholars, she ought to inter- 
est herself in assisting them to become acquainted in school ; 
if they are friendless and alone, to find companions for them, 
and to endeavor in every way to make their time pass pleas- 
antly and happily. 

4. To watch the characters of the members of her section. 



MOUNT VERNON SCHOOJ.. 235 

To inquire of their several teachers as to the progress they 
make in study, and the faithfulness and punctuality with 
which they prepare their lessons. She ought to ascertain 
whether they are punctual at school and regular in their hab- 
its — whether their desks are neat and well arranged, and their 
exercises carefully executed. She ought to correct, through 
her own influence, any evils of this kind she may find, or else 
immediately to refer the cases where this can not be done 
to me. 

The better and the more pleasantly to accomplish the ob- 
ject of exerting a favorable influence upon the characters of 
the members of their section, the superintendents ought often 
to bring up subjects connected with moral and religious duty 
in section meetings. This may be done in the form of sub- 
jects assigned for composition, or proposed for free discussion 
in writing or conversation, or the superintendents may write 
themselves, and read to the section the instructions they wish 
to give. 

When subjects for written composition are thus assigned, 
they should be so presented to the pupils as to lead their 
minds to a very practical mode of regarding them. For ex- 
ample, instead of simply assigning the subject Truth as the 
theme of an abstract moral essay, bring up definite points of 
a practical character, such especially as are connected with 
the trials and temptations of early life. " I wish you would 
all give me your opinions," the teacher might say in such a 
case, "on the question. What is the most frequent induce- 
ment that leads children to tell falsehoods ? Also, do you 
think it is right to tell untruths to very little children, as 
many persons do, or to people who are sick ? Also, whether 
it would be right to tell a falsehood to an insane man in 
order to manage him ?" 

Sometimes, instead of assigning a subject of composition 
verhally, the superintendent exhibits an engraving, and the 
several members of the class then write any thing they please 



236 



THE TEACHER. 



which is suggested to them by the engraving. For example, 
suppose the picture thus exhibited were to represent a girl 
sewing in an attic. The compositions to which it would give 




— --^• 



rise might be very various. One pupil would perhaps simply 
give an account of the picture itself, describing the arrange- 
ments of the room, and specifying the particular articles of 
furniture contained in it. Another would give a soliloquy 
supposed to be spoken by the sewing-girl as she sits at her 
work. Another would narrate the history of her life, of 
course an imaginary one. Another would write an essay on 
the advantages of industry and independence. 

Tliis is a very good way of assigning subjects of composi- 
tion, and, if well managed, it may be the means of awakening 
a great interest in writing among almost all the pupils of a 
school. 



MOUNT VEKMON SCHOOI- 237 

5. Though the superintendents, as such, have, necessarily 
speaking, no teaching to do, still they ought particularly to 
secure the progress of every pupil in what may be called the 
essential studies, such as reading, writing, and spelling. For 
this purpose, they either see that their pupils are going on 
successfully in classes in school in these branches, or they 
may attend to them in the section, provided that they never 
allow such instruction to interfere with their more appropri- 
ate and important duties. 

In a word, the superintendents are to consider the members 
of their sections as pupils confided to their care, and they are 
not merely to discharge mechanically any mere routine of 
duty, such as can be here pointed out, but to exert all their 
powers, their ingenuity, their knowledge of human character, 
their judgment and discretion, in eveiy way, to secure for each 
of those committed to their care the highest benefits which 
the institution to w^hich they belong can afibrd. They are 
to keep a careful and faithful record of their plans and of the 
history of their respective sections, and to endeavor as faith- 
fully and as diligently to advance the interests of the mem- 
bers of them as if the sections were separate and independent 
schools of their own. 

A great responsibility is thus evidently intrusted to them, 
but not a great deal of j^oiver. They ought not to make 
changes, except in very plain cases, without referring the sub- 
ject to me. They ought not to make rash experiments, or 
even to try many new plans, without first obtaining my ap- 
proval of them. They ouglit to refer all cases which they 
can not easily manage to my care. They ought to under- 
stand the distinction between seeing that a thing is done and 
doing it. For example, if a superintendent thinks that one 
of her section is in too high a class in Arithmetic, her duty 
is not to undertake, by her own authority, to remove her to a 
lower one, for, as superintendent, she has no authority over 
Arithmetic classes, nor should she go to the opposite extreme 



238 THE TEACHER. 

of saying, " I have no authority over Arithmetic classes, and 
therefore I have nothing to do with this case." She ought 
to go to the teacher of the class to which her pupil had been 
unwisely assigned, converse with her, obtain her opinion, then 
find some other class more suited to her attainments, and 
after fully ascertaining all the facts in the case, bring them 
to me, that I may make the change. This is superintendence 
— looking over the condition and progress of the scholar. The 
superintendents have thus great responsibility, and yet, com- 
paratively, little power. They accomplish a great deal of 
good, and, in its ordinary course, it is by their direct personal 
efforts; but in making changes, and remedying defects and 
evils, they act generally in a different way. 

The last hour of school is devoted to the sections. No 
classes recite then, but the sections meet, if the superintend- 
ents wish, and attend to such exercises as they provide. 
Each section has its own organization, its own officers and 
plans. These arrangements of course vary in their character 
according to the ingenuity and enterprise of the superintend- 
ents, and more especially according to the talents and intel- 
lectual ardor of the members of the section. 

The two upper sections are called senior, the next two 
middle, and the two younger junior. The senior sections 
are distinguished by using paper for section purposes with a 
light blue tinge. To the middle sections is assigned a light 
straw color ; and to the junior, pink. These colors are used 
for the schedules of the members, and for the records and 
other documents of the section. 

This account, though it is brief, will be sufficient to ex- 
plain to you the general principles of the plan. You will 
soon become acquainted with the exercises and arrangements 
of the particular section to which you will be assigned, and 
by taking an active interest in them, and endeavoring to co- 
operate with the superintendent in all her measures, and to 
comply with her wishes, you will very materially add to her 



MOUNT VERNON SCHOOL. 239 

happiness, and do your part toward elevating the character 
of the circle to which you will belong. 

IV. OFFICERS. 

In consequence of the disposition early manifested by the 
scholars to render me every assistance in their power in car- 
rying into effect the plans of the school and promoting its 
prosperity, I gradually adopted the plan of assigning to va- 
rious officers and committees a number of specific duties re- 
lating to the general business of the school. These officers 
have gradually multiplied as the school has increased and as 
business has accumulated. The system has, from time to 
time, been revised, condensed, and simplified, and at the pres- 
ent time it is thus arranged. The particular duties of each offi- 
cer are minutely described to the individuals themselves at the 
time of their election ; all I intend here is to give a general 
view of the plan, such as is necessary for the scholars at large. 

There are, then, Jive departments of business intrusted to of- 
ficers of the school. The names of the officers, and a brief 
exposition of their duties, are as follows : 

[I omit the particular explanation of the duties of the officers, as the 
arrangement must vary in different schools, and the details of any one 
plan can only be useful in the school-room to which it belongs. It will 
be sufficient to name the officers of each department, with their duties, 
in general terms.] 

1. Regulators. — To assist in the ordinary routine of busi- 
ness in school : ringing the bells ; managing the Study Card ; 
distributing and collecting papers ; counting votes, &c. 

2. Secretaries. — Keeping the records, and executing writ- 
ing of various kinds. 

3. Accountants. — Keeping a register of the scholars, and 
various other duties connected with the accounts. 

4. Librarians. — To take charge of books and stationery. 

5. Curators. — To secure neatness and good order in the 
apartment?. 



240 THE TEACHEK. 

The secretaries and accountants are appointed by the prin- 
cipal, and will generally be chosen from the teachers. The 
first in each of the other departments are chosen by ballot, 
by the scholars. Each one thus chosen nominates the second 
in her department, and they two the assistants. These nom- 
inations must be approved at a teachers' meeting ; for, if a 
scholar is inattentive to her studies, disorderly in her desk, or 
careless and troublesome in her manners, she evidently ought 
not to be appointed to public office. No person can hold an 
office in two of these departments. She can, if she pleases, 
however, resign one to accept another. Each of these de- 
partments ought often to assemble and consult together, and 
form plans for carrying into effect with greater efficiency the 
objects intrusted to them. They are to keep a record of all 
their proceedings, the head of the department acting as sec- 
retary for this purpose. 

The following may be given as an example of the manner 
in which business is transacted by means of these officers. 
On the day that the above description of their duties was 
written, I wished for a sort of directory to assist the collector 
employed to receive payments for the bills, and, to obtain it, 
I took the following steps : 

At the business quarter hour I issued the following or- 
der : 

" Before the close of school, I wish the distributors to leave 
upon each of the desks a piece of paper" (the size I described). 
"It is for a purpose which I shall then explain." 

Accordingly, at some leisure moment before the close of 
school, each one of the regulators went with her box to the 
stationery shelves, which you Avill see in the corners of the 
room, where a supply of paper of all the various sizes used 
in school is kept, and, taking out a sufficient number, they 
supplied all the desks in their respective divisions. 

When the time for closing school arrived, I requested each 
young lady to write the name of her parent or guardian upon 



MOUNT VERNON SCHOOL. 241 

the paper, and opposite to it his place of business. This 
was done in a minute or two. 

" All those whose parent's or guardian's name begins with 
a letter above m may rise." 

They rose. 

" The distributors may collect the papers." 

The officers then passed round in regular order, each 
through her own division, and collected the papers. 

*' Deliver them at the accountants' desk." 

They were accordingly carried there, and received by the 
accountants. 

In the same manner, the others were collected and received 
by the accountants, but kept separate. 

" I wish now the second accountant would copy these in a 
little book I have prepared for the purpose, arranging them 
alphabetically, referring all doubtful cases again to me." 

The second accountant then arranged the papers, and pre- 
pared them to go into the book, and the writer who belongs 
to the department copied them fairly. 

I describe this case, because it was one which occurred at 
the time I was writing the above description, and not because 
there is any thing otherwise peculiar in it. Such cases arc 
continually taking place, and by the division of labor above 
illustrated, I am very much assisted in a great many of the 
duties which would otherwise consume a great portion of my 
time. 

Any of the scholars may at any time make suggestions in 
writing to any of these officers or to the whole school ; and 
if an officer should be partial, or unfaithful, or negligent in 
her duty, any scholar may propose her impeachment. After 
hearing what she chooses to write in her defense, a vote is 
taken on sustaining the impeachment. If it is sustained, she 
is deprived of the office, and another appointed to fill her 
place. 

r, ■ 



242 THK TEACHER. 

V. THE COURT. 

I have already described how all serious cases of doing 
wrong or neglect of duty are managed in the school. I man- 
age them myself, by coming as directly and as openly as I can 
to the heart and conscience of the offender. There are, how- 
ever, a number of little transgressions, too small to be indi- 
vidually worthy of serious attention, but which are yet troub- 
lesome to the community when frequently repeated. These 
relate chiefly to order in the school-rooms. These misdemean- 
ors are tried, half in jest and half in earnest, by a sort of 
court, whose forms of process might make a legal gentleman 
smile. They, however, fully answer our purpose. I can best 
give you an idea of the court by describing an actual trial. 
I ought, however, first to say that any young lady who chooses 
to be free from the jurisdiction of the court can signify that 
wish to me, and she is safe from it. This, however, is never 
done. They all see the useful influence of it, and wish to 
sustain it. 

Near the close of school, I find, perhaps, on my desk a pa- 
per, of which the following may be considered a copy. It is 
called the indictment. 

We accuse Miss A. B. of having waste papers in the aisle 
opposite her desk, at 11 o'clock, on Friday, Oct. 12. 

^* ^ * \ Witnesses. 
E. F. ) 

I give notice after school that a case is to be tried. Those 
interested, twenty or thirty perhaps, gather around my desk, 
while the sheriff goes to summon the accused and the wit- 
nesses. A certain space is marked off as the precincts of the 
court, within which no one must enter in the slightest degree, 
on pain of imprisonment, that is, confinement to her seat until 
court adjourns. 

"Miss A. B., you are accused of having an untidy floor 
about your desk. Have you any objection to the indictment f 



MOUNT VEliNON SCHOOL. 243 

While she is looking over the indictment to discover a mis- 
spelled word, or an error in the date, or some other latent 
flaw, I appoint any two of the by-standers jury. The jury 
come forward to listen to the cause. 

The accused returns the indictment, saying she has no ob- 
jection, and the Avitnesses are called upon to present their 
testimony. 

Perhaps the prisoner alleges in defense that the papers 
were out in the aisle, not under her desk, or that she did not 
put them there, or that they were too few or too small to 
deserve attention. 

My charge to the jury would be somewhat as follows : 

" You are to consider and decide whether she was guilty 
of disorder, taking into view the testimony of the witnesses 
and also her defense. It is considered here that each young 
lady is responsible not only for the appearance of the carpet 
tinder her desk, but also for the cdsle ojyposite to it, so that her 
first ground of defense must be abandoned. So, also, with 
the second, that she did not put them there. She ought not 
to have them there. Each scholar must keep her own place 
in a proper condition ; so that if disorder is found there, no 
matter who made it, she is responsible if she only had time 
to remove it. As to the third, you must judge whether 
enough has been proved by the witnesses to make out real 
disorder." The jury write guilty or not guilty upon the paper, 
and it is returned to me. If sentence is pronounced, it is 
usually confinement to the seat during a recess, or part of a 
recess, or something that requires a slight effort or sacrifice 
for the public good. The sentence is always something real, 
though always slight, and the court has a great deal of influence 
in a double way — making amusement and preserving order. 

The cases tried are very various, but none of the serious 
business of the school is intrusted to it. Its sessions are al- 
ways held out of school hours, and, in fact, it is hardly con- 
sidered by the scholars as a constituent part of the arrange- 



244 THE TEACHER. 

merits of the school; so much so, that I hesitated much 
about inserting an account of it in this description. 

VI. KELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. 

In giving you this account, brief as it is, I ought not to 
omit to speak of one feature of our plan, which we have al- 
ways intended should be one of the most prominent and dis- 
tinctive characteristics of the school. The gentlemen who 
originally interested themselves in its establishment had 
mainly in view the exertion, by the principal, of a decided 
moral and religious influence over the hearts of the pupils. 
Knowing, as they did, how much more dutiful and affection- 
ate at home you would be, how much more successful in 
3^our studies at school, how much happier in your intercourse 
with each other, and in your prospects for the future both 
here and hereafter, if your hearts could be brought under the 
influence of Christian principle, they were strongly desirous 
that the school should be so conducted that its religious in- 
fluence, though gentle and alluring in its character, should 
be frank, and open, and decided. I need not say that I my- 
self entered very cordially into these views. It has been my 
constant effort, and one of the greatest sources of my enjoy- 
ment, to try to win my pupils to piety, and to create such an 
atmosphere in school that conscience, and moral principle, 
and affection for the unseen Jehovah should reign here. You 
can easily see how much pleasant er it is for me to have the 
school controlled by such influence, than if it were necessary 
for me to hire you to diligence in duty by prizes or rewards, 
or to deter you from neglect or from transgression by re- 
proaches, and threatenings, and punishments. 

The influence which the school has thus exerted has always 
been cordially welcomed by my pupils, and approved, so far 
as I have known, by their parents, though four or five de- 
nominations, and fifteen or twenty different congregations, 
have been from time to time represented in the school. There 



MOUNT VERNON SCHOOL. • 245 

are few parents who would not like to have their children 
Christians — sincerely and practically so ; for every thing which 
a parent can desire in a child is promoted just in proportion 
as she opens her heart to the influence of the spirit of piety. 
But that you may understand what course is taken, I shall 
describe, first, what I wish to eftect in the hearts of my pupils, 
and then what means I take to accomplish the object. 

1. A large number of young persons of your age, and in 
circumstances similar to those in which you are placed, per- 
form with some fidelity their various outward duties; hut main- 
tain no habitual and daily communion icitJi God. It is very 
wrong for them to live thus without God, but they do not 
see, or, rather, do not feel the guilt of it. They only think 
of their accountability to human beings like themselves ; for 
example, their parents, teachers, brothers and sisters, and 
friends. Consequently, they think most of their external con- 
duct, which is all that human beings can see. Their hearts 
are neglected, and become very impure, full of evil thoughts, 
and desires, and passions, which are not repented of, and 
consequently not forgiven. Now what I wish to accomplish 
in regard to all my pupils is, that they should begin to feel 
their accountability to God, and to act according to it ; that 
they should explore their hearts, and ask God's forgiveness 
for all their past sins, through Jesus Christ, who died for 
them that they might be forgiven ; and that they should from 
this time try to live near to God, feel his presence, and enjoy 
that solid peace and happiness which flows from a sense of 
his protection. When such a change takes place, it relieves 
the mind from that constant and irritating uneasiness which 
the great mass of mankind feel as a constant burden ; the 
ceaseless forebodings of a troubled conscience reproaching 
them for their past accumulated guilt, and warning them of 
a judgment to come. The change which I endeavor to pro- 
mote relieves the heart both of the present suffering and of 
the future dansrer. 



246 THE TEACHER. 

After endeavoring to induce you to begin to act from 
Christian principle, I wish to explain to you your various 
duties to yourselves, your parents, and to God. 

2. The measures to Avhich I resort to accomplish these ob- 
jects are three : 

First, Religious Exercises in School. — We open and close the 
school with a very short prayer and one or two verses of a 
hymn. Sometimes I occupy ten or fifteen minutes at one of 
the general exercises, or at the close of the school, in giving 
instruction upon practical religious duty. The subjects are 
sometimes suggested by a passage of Scripture read for the 
purpose, but more commonly in another way. 

You will observe often, at the close of the school or at an 
appointed general exercise, that a scholar will bring to my 
desk a dark-colored morocco wrapper containing several small 
strips of paper, upon which questions relating to moral or 
religious duty, or subjects for remarks from me, or anecdotes, 
or short statements of facts, giving rise to inquiries of various 
kinds, are written. This wrapper is deposited in a place ac- 
cessible to all the scholars, and any one who pleases deposits 
in it any question or suggestion on religious subjects which 
may occur to her. You can at any time do this yourself, 
thus presenting any doubt, or difficulty, or inquiry wdiich 
may at any time occur to you. 

Secondly, Religious Exercise on Saturday afternoon. — In or- 
der to bring up more distinctly and systematically the subject 
of religious duty, I established, a long time ago, a religious 
meeting on Saturday afternoon. It is intended for those who 
feel interested in receiving such instruction, and who can con- 
veniently attend at that time. If you have no other engage- 
ments, and if your parents approve of it, I should be happy 
to have you attend. There will be very little to interest you 
except the subject itself, for I make all the instructions which 
I give there as plain, direct, and practical as is in my power. 



MOUNT VERNON SCHOOL. 247 

A considerable number of the scholars usually attend, and 
frequently bring with them many of their female friends. 
You can at any time invite any one whom you please to 
come to the meeting. It commences at half past three, and 
continues about half an hour. 

Thirdly, Personal Religious Instruction. — In consequence of 
the large number of my pupils, and the constant occupation 
of my time in school, I have scarcely any opportunity of re- 
ligious conversation with them, even with those who partic- 
ularly desire it. The practice has therefore arisen, and grad- 
ually extended itself almost universally in school, of writing 
to me on the subject. These communications are usually 
brief notes, expressing the writer's interest in the duties of 
piety, or bringing forward her own peculiar practical difficul- 
ties, or making specific inquiries, or asking particular instruc- 
tion in regard to some branch of religious duty. I answer in 
a similar way, very briefly and concisely, however, for the 
number of notes of this kind which I receive is very large, 
and the time which I can devote to such a correspondence 
necessarily limited. I should like to receive such communi- 
cations from all my pupils ; for advice or instruction commu- 
nicated in reply, being directly personal, is far more likely to 
produce effect. Besides, my remarks, being in writing, can 
be read a second time, and be more attentively considered 
and reconsidered than when words are merely spoken. These 
communications must always be begun by the pupil. I never 
(unless there may be occasional exceptions in some few very 
peculiar cases) commence. I am prevented from doing this 
both by my unwillingness to obtrude such a subject personal- 
ly upon those who might not welcome it, and by want of 
time. I have scarcely time to write to all those who are 
willing first to wTite to me. Many cases have occurred where 
individuals have strongly desired some private communica- 
tion with me, but have hesitated long, and shrunk reluctant- 
ly from the first step. I hope it will not be so with vou. 



2-4y THE TEACHKK. 

Should you ever wish to receive from me any direct religious 
instruction, I hope you will write immediately and freely. I 
shall very probably not even notice that it is the first time I 
have received such a communication from you. So numer- 
ous and so frequent are these communications, that I seldom 
observe, when I receive one from any individual for the first 
time, that it comes from one who has not written mc before. 

Such are the means to wdiich I resort in endeavoring to lead 
my pupils to God and to duty, and you will observe that the 
whole design of them is to win and to allure, not to compel. 
The regular devotional exercises of school are all which you 
will necessarily witness. These are very short, occupying 
much less time than many of the pupils think desirable. 
The rest is all private and voluntary. I never make any ef- 
fort to urge any one to attend the Saturday meeting, nor do 
I, except in a few rare and peculiar cases, ever address any 
one personally, unless she desires to be so addressed. You 
will be left, therefore, in this school, unmolested, to choose 
your own way. If you should choose to neglect religious 
duty, and to wander away from God, I shall still do all in my 
power to make you happy in school, and to secure for you in 
future life such a measure of enjoyment as can fall to the 
share of one over whose prospects in another world there 
hangs so gloomy a cloud. I shall never reproach you, and 
perhaps may not even know wdiat your choice is. Should 
you, on the other hand, prefer the peace and happiness of pi- 
ety, and be Avilling to begin to walk in its paths, you will 
find many, both among the teachers and pupils of the Mount 
Vernon School, to sympathize with you, and to cnrouraoo and 
help you on your way. 



SCHEMING. 



249 



CHAPTER Vn. 

SCHE3I1NG. 




OME of the best teachers in our country, 
or, rather, of those who might be the best, 
lose a great deal of their time, and en- 
danger, or perhaps entirely destroy, their 
hopes of success by a scheming spirit, which is always reach- 
inor forward to something^ new. One has in his mind some 
new school-book by which Ai'ithmetic, Grammar, or Geog- 
raphy are to be taught with unexampled rapidity, and his 
own purse to be filled in a much more easy way than by 
waiting for the rewards of patient industry. Another has 
the plan of a school, bringing into operation new principles 
of management or instruction, which he is to establish on 
some favored spot, and which is to become, in a few years, a 
second Hofwyl. Another has some royal road to learning, 
and, though he is trammeled and held down by what he calls 
the ignorance and stupidity of his trustees or his school com- 
mittee, yet, if he could fairly put his principles and methods 
to the test, he is certain of advancing the science of education 
half a centurv at least at a single leap. 

L -i 



250 THE TEACHER. 

Ingenuity in devising new ways, and enterprise in follow- 
ing them, are among the happiest characteristics of a new 
comitry rapidly filling with a thriving population. Without 
these qualities there could be no advance ; society must be 
stationary ; and from a stationary to a retrograde condition, 
the progress is inevitable. The disposition to make improve- 
ments and changes may, however, be too great. If so, it 
must be checked. On the other hand, a slavish attachment 
to old established practices may prevail. Then the spirit of 
enterprise and experiment must be awakened and encouraged. 
Which of these two is to be the duty of a writer at any time 
will of course depend upon the situation of the community 
at the time when he writes, and of the class of readers for 
which he takes his pen. Now, at the present time, it is un- 
doubtedly true, that wliile among the great mass of teachers 
there may be too little originality and enterprise, there is still 
among many a spirit of innovation and change to which a 
caution ought to be addressed. But, before I proceed, let me 
protect myself from misconception by one or two remarks. 

1. There are a few individuals in various parts of our 
country who, by ingenuity and enterprise, have made real and 
important improvements in many departments of our science, 
and are still making them. The science is to be carried for- 
ward by such men. Let them not, therefore, understand that 
any thing which I shall say applies at all to those real im- 
provements which are from time to time brought before the 
public. As examples of this, there might easily be mentioned, 
were it necessary, several new modes of study, and new text- 
books, and literary institutions on new plans, which have been 
brought forward within a few years, and have proved, on ac- 
tual trial, to be of real and permanent value. 

These are, or rather they were, when first conceived by 
the original projectors, new schemes, and the result has proved 
that they were good ones. Every teacher, too, must hope 
that such improvements will continue to be made. Let 



SCHEMING. 2o I 

nothing, therefore, which shall be said on the subject of schem- 
ing in this chapter be interpreted as intended to condemn 
real improvements of this kind, or to check those which maj 
now be in progress by men of age or experience, or of sound 
judgment, who are capable of distinguishing between a real 
improvement and a whimsical innovation which can never 
live any longer than it is sustained by the enthusiasm of the 
original inventor. 

2. There are a great many teachers in our country who 
make their business a mere dull and formal routine, through 
which they plod on, month after month, and year after year, 
without variety or change, and who are inclined to stigma- 
tize with the appellation of idle scheming all plans, of what- 
ever kind, to give variety or interest to the exercises of the 
school. Now whatever may be said in this chapter against 
unnecessary innovation and change does not apply to efforts 
to secure variety in the details of daily study, while the great 
leading objects are steadily pursued. This subject has al- 
ready been discussed in the chapter on Instruction, where it 
has been shown that every wise teacher, while he pursues the 
same great object, and adopts in substance the same leading 
measures at all times, will exercise all the ingenuity he pos- 
sesses, and bring all his inventive powers into requisition to 
give variety and interest to the minute details. 

To explain now what is meant by such scheming as is to 
be condemned, let us suppose a case which is not very un- 
common. A young man, while preparing for college, takes 
a school. "When he first enters upon the duties of his office, 
he is diffident and timid, and walks cautiously in the steps 
which precedent has marked out for him. Distrusting him- 
self, he seeks guidance in the example which others have set 
for him, and, very probably, he imitates precisely, though it 
may be insensibly and involuntarily, the manners and the 
plans of his own last teacher. This servitude soon, however. 



252 TilK TEACHEli. 

if he is a man of natural abilities, passes away ; he learns to 
try one experiment after another, until he insensibly finds that 
a plan may succeed, even if it was not pursued by his former 
teacher. So far it is well. He throws greater interest into 
his school, and into all its exercises, by the spirit with which 
he conducts them. He is successful. After the period of his 
services has expired, he returns to the pursuit of his studies, 
encouraged by his success, and anticipating farther triumphs 
in his subsequent attempts. 

He goes on through college, Ave will suppose, teaching from 
time to time in the vacations, as opportunity occurs, taking 
more and more interest in the employment, and meeting with 
greater and greater success. This success is owing in a very 
great degree to ihQ freedom of his practice, that is, to his es- 
cape from the thraldom of imitation. So long as he leaves 
the great objects of the school untouched, and the great fea- 
tures of its organization unchanged, his many plans for ac- 
complishing these objects in new and various ways awaken 
interest and spirit both in himself and in his scholars, and all 
goes on well. 

Now in such a case as this, a young teacher, philosophiz- 
ing upon his success and the causes of it, will almost invari- 
ably make this mistake, namely, he will attribute to some- 
thing essentially excellent in his plans the success which, in 
fact, results from the novelty of them. 

When he proposes something new to a class, they all take 
an interest in it because it is new. He takes, too, a special 
interest in it because it is an experiment which he is trying, 
and he feels a sort of pride and pleasure in securing its suc- 
cess. The new method which he adopts may not be, in itself, 
m the least degree better than old metliods, yet it may suc- 
ceed vastly better in his liands than any old method he had 
tried before. And why? Why, because it is new. It awak- 
ens interest in his class, because it offers them variety ; and 
it awakens interest in him. because it is a plan Avhich he has 



SCIIEMINU. 253 

devised, and for whose success, therefore, he feels that his 
credit is at stake. Either of these circumstances is abundant- 
ly sufhcient to account for its success. Either of these would 
secure success, unless the plan was a very bad one indeed. 

This may easily be illustrated by supposing a particular 
case. The teacher has, we will imagine, been accustomed to 
teach spelling in the usual way, by assigning a lesson in the 
spelling-book, which the scholars, after studying it in their 
seats, recite by having the words put to them individually in 
the class. After some time, he finds that one class has lost 
its interest in this study. He can compel them to study the 
lesson, it is true, but he perceives, perhaps, that it is a weary 
task to them. Of course, they proceed with less alacrity, 
and consequently with less rapidity and success. He thinks, 
very justly, that it is highly desirable to secure cheerful, not 
forced, reluctant efforts from his pupils, and he thinks of try- 
ing some new plan. Accordingly, he says to them, 

" Boys, I am going to try a new plan for this class." 

The mere annunciation of a new plan awakens universal 
attention. The boys all look up, wondering Avhat it is to be. 

" Instead of having you study your lessons in your seats, 
as heretofore, I am going to let you all go together into one 
corner of the room, and choose some one to read the lesson 
to you, spelling all the words aloud. You will all hsten, and 
endeavor to remember how the difficult ones are spelled. 
Do you think you can remember'?" 

" Yes, sir," say the boys. Children always think they can 
do every thing which is proposed to them as a new plan or 
experiment, though they are very often inclined to think they 
can 7iot do what is required of them as a task. 

" You may have," continues the teacher, " the words read 
to you once or twice, just as you please. Only, if you have 
them read but once, you must take a shorter lesson." 

He pauses and looks round upon the class. Some say 
"Once," some "Twice." 



254 THE TEACHER. 

'•' I am willing that you should decide this question. How 
many are in favor of having shorter lessons, and having them 
read but once ? How many prefer longer lessons, and having 
them read twice V 

After comparing the numbers, it is decided according to 
the majority, and the teacher assigns or allows them to assign 
a lesson. 

"Now," he proceeds, "I am not only going to have you 
study in a different way, but recite in a different way too. 
You may take your slates with you, and after you have had 
time to hear the lesson read slowly and carefully twice, I shall 
come and dictate to you the words aloud, and you will all 
write them from my dictation. Then I shall examine your 
slates, and see how many mistakes are made." 

Any class of boys, now, would be exceedingly interested in 
such a proposal as this, especially if the master's ordinary 
principles of government and instruction had been such as to 
interest the pupils in the welfare of the school and in their 
own progress in study. They will come together in the place 
assigned, and listen to the one who is appointed to read the 
words to them, with every faculty aroused, and their whole 
souls engrossed in the new duties assigned them. The teach- 
er, too, feels a special interest in his experiment. Whatever 
else he may be employed about, his eye turns instinctively to 
this group with an intensity of interest which an experienced 
teacher who has long been in the field, and who has tried 
experiments of this sort a hundred times, can scarcely con- 
ceive; for let it be remembered that I am describing the 
acts and feelings of a new beginner, of one who is commenc- 
ing his work with a feeble and trembling step, and perhaps 
this is his first step away from the beaten path in which he 
has been accustomed to walk. 

This new plan is continued, we will suppose, for a week, 
during which time the interest of the pupils continues. 
They get longer lessons and make fewer mistakes than they 



SCHEIIING. 255 

did by the old method. Now, in speculating on this subject, 
the teacher reasons very justly that it is of no consequence 
whether the pupil receives his knowledge through the eye or 
through the ear ; whether they study in solitude or in com- 
pany. The point is to secure their progress in learning to 
spell the words of the English language, and as this point is 
secured far more rapidly and effectually by his new method, 
the inference is to his mind very obvious, that he has made a 
great improvement — one of real and jDcrmanent value. Per- 
haps he will consider it an extraordinary discovery. 

But the truth is, that in almost all such cases as this, the 
secret of the success is not that the teacher has discovered a 
letter method than the ordinary ones, but that he has dis- 
covered a neiv one. The experiment will succeed in produc- 
ing more successful results just as long as the novelty of it con- 
tinues to excite unusual interest and attention in the class, 
or the thought that it is a plan of the teacher's own inven- 
tion leads him to take a peculiar interest in it. And this 
may be a month, or perhaps a quarter; and precisely the same 
effects would have been produced if the whole had been re- 
versed, that is, if the plan of dictation had been the old one, 
which in process of time had, in this supposed school, lost its 
interest, and the teacher, by his ingenuity and enterprise, had 
discovered and introduced what is now the common mode. 

"Very well," perhaps my reader \vill reply, "it is surely 
something gained to awaken and continue interest in a dull 
study for a quarter, or even a month. The experiment is 
worth something as a pleasant and useful change, even if it 
is not permanently superior to the other." 

It is indeed worth something. It is worth a gi'eat deal ; 
and the teacher who can devise and execute such plans, un- 
derstanding their real place and value, and adhering steadily 
through them all to the great object vhich ought to engage his at- 
tention, is in the almost certain road to success as an instruct- 
or. What I wish is not to discourage such efforts ; they 



256 THE TEACHER. 

ought to be encouraged to the utmost ; but to have their real 
nature and design, and the real secret of their success fully 
understood, and to have the teacher, above all, take good care 
that all his new plans are made, not the substitutes for the 
great objects which he ought to keep steadily in view, but 
only the means by which he may carry them into more full 
and complete effect. 

In the case we are supposing, however, we will imagine 
that the teacher does not do this. He fancies that he has 
made an important discovery, and begins to inquire whether 
the principle, as he calls it, can not be applied to some other 
studies. He goes to philosophizing upon it, and can find 
many reasons why knowledge received through the ear makes 
a more ready and lasting impression than when it comes 
through the eye. He attempts to apply the method to Arith- 
metic and Geography, and in a short time is forming plans 
for the complete metamorphosis of his school. When en- 
gaged in hearing a recitation, his mind is distracted with his 
schemes and plans, and instead of devoting his attention fully 
to the work he may have in hand, his thoughts are wander- 
ing continually to new schemes and fancied improvements, 
which agitate and perplex him, and which elude his efforts 
to give them a distinct and definite form. He thinks he 
must, however, carry out his principle. He thinks of its ap- 
plicability to a thousand other cases. He revolves over and 
over again in his mind plans for changing the whole arrange- 
ment of his school. He is again and again lost in perplex- 
ity, his mind is engrossed and distracted, and his present du- 
ties are performed with no interest, and consequently with 
little spirit or success. 

Now his error is in allowing a new idea, which ought only 
to have suggested to him an agreeable change for a time in 
one of his classes, to swell itself into undue and exaggerated 
importance, and to draw off his mind from what ought to be 
the objects of liis steady pursuit. 



tiCHEJIING. 



Perhaps some teacher of steady intellectual habits and a 
well-balanced mind may think that this picture is fanciful, 
and that there is little danger that such consequences will 
ever actually result from such a cause. But, far from having 
exaggerated the results, I am of opinion that I might have 
gone much farther. There is no doubt that a great many in- 
stances have occurred in which some simple idea like the one 
I have alluded to has led the unlucky conceiver of it, in his 
eager pursuit, far deeper inta the difficulty than I have here 
supposed. He gets into a contention with the school com- 
mittee, that formidable foe to the projects of all scheming 
teachers ; and it would not be very difficult to find many ac- 
tual cases where the individual has, in consequence of some 
such idea, quietly planned and taken measures to establish 
some new institution, where he can carry on unmolested his 
plans, and let the world see the full results of his wonderful 
discoveries. 

We have in our country a very complete system of literary 
institutions, so far as external organization will go, and the 
prospect of success is far more flxvorable in effiDrts to carry 
these institutions into more complete and prosperous opera- 
tion, than in plans for changing them, or substituting others 
in their stead. Were it not that such a course would be un- 
just to individuals, a long and melancholy catalogue might 
easily be made out of abortive plans which have sprung up 
in the minds of young men in the manner I have described, 
and which, after perhaps temporaiy success, have resulted in 
partial or total failure. These failures are of every kind. 
Some are school-books on a new plan, which succeeds in the 
inventor's hand chiefly on account of the spirit which carried 
it into effect, but which in ordinary hands, and under ordi- 
nary circumstances, and especially after long-continued use, 
have failed of exhibiting any superiority. Others are insti- 
tutions, commenced with great zeal by the projectors, and 
which prosper just as long as that zeal continues. Zeal will 



258 THE TEACHEK. 

make any thing succeed for a time. Others are new plans 
of instruction or government, generally founded on some good 
principle carried to an extreme, or made to grow into exag- 
gerated and disproportionate importance. Examples almost 
innumerable of these things might be particularized, if it were 
proper, and it would be found, upon examination, that the 
amount of ingenuity and labor wasted upon such attempts 
would have been sufficient, if properly expended, to have ele- 
vated very considerably the standard of education, and to 
have placed existing institutions in a far more prosperous 
and thriving state than they now exhibit. 

The reader will perhaps ask. Shall we make no efforts at 
improvement? Must every thing in education go on in a 
uniform and monotonous manner, and, while all else is ad- 
vancing, shall our cause alone stand still? By no means. 
It must advance ; but let it advance mainly by the industry 
and fidelity of those who are employed in it; by changes 
slowly and cautiously made ; not by great efforts to reach for- 
ward to brilliant discoveries, which will draw off the atten- 
tion from essential duties, and, after leading the projector 
through perplexities and difiiculties without number, end in 
mortification and failure. 

Were I to give a few concise and summary directions in 
regard to this subject to a young teacher, they would be the 
following : 

1. Examine thoroughly the system of public and private 
schools as now constituted in most of the states of this Union, 
until you fully understand it and appreciate its excellences 
and its completeness ; see how fully it provides for the wants 
of the various classes of our population. 

By this I mean to refer only to the completeness of the 
system, as a system of organization. I do not refer at all to 
the internal management of these institutions; this last is, 
of course, a field for immediate and universal effort at prog- 
ress and improvement. 



SCHEMING. 259 

2. If, after fully understanding this system as it now ex- 
ists, you are of opinion that something more is necessary ; if 
you think some classes of the community are not fully pro- 
vided for, or that some of our institutions may be advanta- 
geously exchanged for others, the plan of which you have in 
mind, consider whether your age, and experience, and stand- 
ing as an instructor are such as to enable you to place confi- 
dence in your opinion. 

I do not mean by this that a young man may not make a 
useful discovery, but only that he may be led away by the 
ardor of early life to fancy that essential and important which 
is really not so. It is important that each one should de- 
termine whether this is not the case with himself, if his mind 
is revolving some new plan. 

3. Perhaps you are contemplating only a single new insti- 
tution, which is to depend for its success on yourself and 
some coadjutors whom you have in mind and whom you well 
know. If this is the case, consider whether the establish- 
ment you are contemplating can be carried on, after you shall 
have left it, by such men as can ordinarily be obtained. If 
the plan is founded on some peculiar notions of your own, 
which would enable you to succeed in it when others, who 
might also be interested in such a scheme, would probably 
fail, consider whether there may not be danger that your plan 
may be imitated by others who can not carry it into success- 
ful operation, so that it may be the indirect means of doing 
injury. A man is, in some degree, responsible for his ex- 
ample and for the consequences which may indirectly flow 
from his course, as well as for the immediate results which 
he produces. The Fellenberg school at Hofwyl was per- 
haps, by its direct results, as successful for a time as any 
other institution in the world ; but there is a great offset 
to the good which it has thus done to Be found in the his- 
tory of the thousand Avretched imitations of it which have 
been started only to linger a little while and die, and in 



2G0 



THE TEACllKK. 



which a vast amount of time, and talent, and money have 
been wasted. 

4. Consider the influence you may have upon the other 
institutions of our country, by attaching yourself to some one 
under the existing organization. If you take an academy or 
a private school, constituted and organized like other similar 
mstitutions, success in your own will give you influence over 
others. A successful teacher of an academy raises the gen- 
eral standard of academic instruction. A college professor, 
if he brings extraordinary talents to bear upon the regular 
duties of that office, throws light, universally, upon the whole 
science of college discipline and instruction, and thus aids in 
infusing a continually renewed life and vigor into those ven- 
erable seats of learning that might otherwise sink into de- 




crepitude and decay. By goinir, however, to some new field, 
establishing some new and fanciful institution, you take your- 
self from such a sphere; you exert no influence over others, 
except upon feeble imitators, who fail in their attempts, and 
bring discredit upon your plans by the awkwardness with 



SCHEMIKG. 261 

which they attempt to adopt them. How much more serv- 
ice, then, to the cause of education will a man of genius ren- 
der, by falling in with the regularly organized institutions of 
the country and elevating them, than if in early life he were 
to devote his powers to some magnificent project of an estab- 
lishment to which his talents would unquestionably have 
given temporary success, but wMch would have taken him 
away from the community of teachers, and confined the re- 
sults of his labors to the more immediate efiects which his 
daily duties might produce. 

5. Perhaps, liowever, your plan is not the establishment 
of some new institution, but the introduction of some new 
study or pursuit into the one with which you are connected. 
Before, however, you interrupt the regular arrangements of 
your school to make such a change, consider carefully what 
is the real and appropriate object of your institution. Every 
thing is not to be done in school. The principles of division 
of labor apply with peculiar force to this employment ; so 
that you must not only consider whether the branch which 
you are now disposed to introduce is important, but whether 
it is really such an one as it is on the whole best to include 
among the objects to be pursued in such an institution. 
Many teachers seem to imagine that if any thing is in itself 
important, and especially if it is an important branch of edu- 
cation, the question is settled of its being a proper object of 
attention in school. But this is very far from being the case. 
The whole work of education can never be intrusted to the 
teacher. Much must of course remain in the hands of the 
parent ; it ought so to remain. The object of a school is not 
to take children out of the parental hands, substituting the 
watch and guardianship of a stranger for the natural care of 
father and mother. Far from it. It is only the association 
of the children for those purposes which can be more success- 
fully accomplished by association. It is a union for few, 
specific, and limited objects, for the accomplishment of that 



262 thp: teacher. 

part (and it is comparatively a small part of the general ob- 
jects of education) which can be most successfully effected 
by public institutions and in assemblies of the young. 

6. If the branch which you are desiring to introduce ap- 
pears to you to be an important part of education, and if it 
seems to you that it can be most successfully attended to in 
schools, then consider whether the introduction of it, and of 
all the other branches having equal claims, will or will not give 
to the common schools too great a complexity. Consider 
whether it will succeed in the hands of ordinary teachers. 
Consider whether it will require so much time and effort as 
will draw off in any considerable degree, the attention of the 
teacher from the more essential parts of his duty. All will 
admit that it is highly important that every school should be 
simple in its plan — as simple as its size and general circum- 
stances will permit, and especially that the public schools in 
every town and village of our country should never lose sight 
of w^hat is and must be, after all, their great design — teaching 
the whole ])oj)ulation to read, write, and calcidate. 

7. If it is a school-book which you are wishing to intro- 
duce, consider well before you waste your time in preparing 
it, and your spirits in the vexatious work of getting it through 
the press ; whether it is, for general use, so superior to those 
already published as to induce teachers to make a change in 
favor of yours. I have italicized the words for general use, 
for no delusion is more common than for a teacher to sup- 
pose that because a text-book which he has prepared and 
uses in manuscript is better for him than any other work 
which he can obtain, it will therefore be better for general 
circulation. Every man, if he has any originality of mind, 
has of course some peculiar method of his own, and he can 
of course prepare a text-book which will be better adapted 
to this method than those ordinarily in use. The history 
of a vast number of text-books, Arithmetics, Geographies, 
and Grammars, is this: A man of somewhat ingenious mind, 



SCHEMING. 263 

adopts some peculiar mode of instruction in one of these 
branches, and is quite successful, not because the method has 
any very pecuUar excellence, but simply because he takes a 
greater interest in it, both on account of its novelty and also 
from the fact that it is his own invention. He conceives the 
plan of writing a text-book to develop and illustrate this 
method. He hurries through the work. By some means 
or other he gets it printed. In due time it is regularly ad- 
vertised. The journals of education give notice of it ; the 
author sends a few copies to his friends, and that is the end 
of it. Perhaps a few schools may make a trial of it, and if, 
for any reason, the teachers who try it are interested in the 
work, probably in their hands it succeeds. But it does not 
succeed so well as to attract general attention, and conse- 
quently does not get into general circulation. The author 
loses his time and his patience. The publisher, unless, unfor- 
tunately, it was published on the author's account, loses his 
paper, and in a few months scarcely any body knows that 
such a book ever saw the light. 

It is in this way that the great multitude of school-books 
which are now constantly issuing from the press take their 
origin. Far be it from me to discourage the preparation of 
good school-books. This department of our literature offers a 
fine field for the efforts of learning and genius. What I con- 
tend against is the endless multiplicity of useless works, hastily 
conceived and carelessly executed, and which serve no purpose 
but to employ uselessly talents which, if properly applied, 
might greatly benefit both the community and the possessor. 

8. If, however, after mature deliberation, you conclude 
that you have the plan of a school-book which you ought to 
try to mature and execute, be slow and cautious about it. 
Remember that so great is now the competition in this 
branch, nothing but superior excellence or very extraordi- 
nary exertions will secure the favorable reception of a work. 
Examine all that your predecessors have done before you. 



264 THE TEACHER. 

Obtain, whatever may be the trouble and expense, all other 
text-books on the subject, and examine them thoroughly. If 
you see that you can make a very decided advance on all that 
has been done, and that the public will probably submit to 
the inconvenience and expense of a change to secure the re- 
sult of your labors, go forward slowly and carefully in your 
work, no matter how much investigation, how much time 
and labor it may require. The more difficulty you may find 
in gaining the eminence, the less likely will you be to be fol- 
lowed by successful competitors. 

9. Consider, in forming your text-book, not merely the 
whole subject on which you are to write, but also look ex- 
tensively and thoroughly at the institutions throughout the 
country, and consider carefully the character of the teachers 
by whom you expect it to be used. Sometimes a man pub- 
lishes a text-book, and when it fails on trial, he says " it is 
because they did not know how to use it. The book in it- 
self was good. The whole fault was in the awkwardness and 
ignorance of the teacher." How absurd ! As if, to make a 
good text-book, it was not as necessary to adapt it to teach- 
ers as to scholars. A good text-hook, which the teachers for 
whom it was intended did not know how to use I ! In other 
words, a good contrivance, but entirely unfit for the purpose 
for which it was intended. 

10. Lastly, in every new plan, consider carefully whether 
its success in your hands, after you have tried it and found it 
successful, be owing to its novelty and to your own special 
interest in it, or to its own innate and intrinsic superiority. 
If the former, use it so long as it will last, simply to give va- 
riety and interest to your plans. Recommend it in conversa- 
tion or in other ways to teachers with whom you are ac- 
quainted, not as a wonderful discovery, which is going to 
change the whole science of education, but as one method 
among others which may be introduced from time to time to 
relieve tho monotonv of the teacher's labors. 



SCHEMING. 265 

In a word, do not go away from the established institu- 
tions of our country, or deviate from the great objects which 
are at present, and ought continually to be pursued by them, 
without great caution, circumspection, and deliberate inquiry. 
But, within these limits, exercise ingenuity and invention as 
much as you will. Pursue steadily the great objects which 
demand the teacher's attention. They are simple and few. 
Never lose sight of them, nor turn to the right or to the left 
to follow any ignis fatuus which may arise to allure you 
away, but exercise as much ingenuity and enterprise as you 
please in giving variety and interest to the modes by which 
these objects are pursued. 

If planning and scheming are confined within these limits, 
and conducted on these principles, the teacher will save all 
the agitating perplexity and care which will otherwise be his 
continual portion. He can go forward peaceably and quiet- 
ly, and while his own success is greatly increased, he may be 
of essential service to the cause in which he is engaged, by 
making known his various experiments and plans to others. 
For this purpose, it seems to me highly desirable that every 
teacher should IvEEP a jou-rnal of all his plans. In these 
should be carefully entered all his experiments ; the new 
methods he adopts ; the course he takes in regard to difficul- 
ties which may arise, and any interesting incidents which 
may occur which it would be useful for him to refer to at 
some future time. These, or the most interesting of them, 
should be made known to other teachers. This may be done 
in several ways : 

(1.) By publishing them in periodicals devoted to educa- 
tion. Such contributions, furnished by judicious men, would 
be among the most valuable articles in such a work. They 
would be far more valuable than any general speculations, 
however well conceived or expressed. 

(2.) In newspapers intended for general circulati<"n There 
M 



266 THE TEACHER. 

are very few editors whose papers circulate in families who 
would not gladly receive articles of this kind to fill a teach- 
er's department in their columns. If properly written, they 
would be read with interest and profit by multitudes of pa- 
rents, and would throw much light on family government 
and instruction. 

(3.) By reading them in teachers' meetings. If half a dozen 
teachers who are associated in the same vicinity would meet 
once a fortnight, simply to hear each other's journals, they 
would be amply repaid for their time and labor. Teachers' 
meetings will be interesting and useful, when those who come 
forward in them will give up the prevailing practice of deliv- 
ering orations, and come down at once to the scenes and to 
the business of the school-room. 

There is one topic connected with the subject of this chap- 
ter which deserves a few paragraphs. I refer to the rights 
, of the committee, or the trustees, or patrons in the control 
of the school. The right to such control, when claimed at 
all, is usually claimed in reference to the teacher's new plans, 
which renders it proper to allude to the subject here ; and it 
ought not to be omitted, for a great many cases occur in 
which teachers have difficulties with the trustees or commit- 
tee of their school. Sometimes these difficulties result at last 
in an open rupture ; at other times in only a slight and tem- 
porary misunderstanding, arising from what the teacher calls 
an unwise and unwarrantable interfereice on the part of the 
committee or the trustees in the arrangements of the school. 
Difficulties of some sort very often arise. In fact, a right un- 
derstanding of this subject is, in most cases, absolutely essen- 
tial to the harmony and co-operation of the teacher and the 
representatives of his patrons. 

There are then, it must be recollected, three difierent par- 
ties connected with every establishment for education : the 
parents of the scholars, the teacher, and the pupils themselves. 
Sometimes, as, for example, in a common private school, the 



SCHEMING. 267 

parents are not organized, and whatever influence tliey exert 
they must exert in their individual capacity. At other times, 
as in a common district or town school, they are by law or- 
ganized, and the school committee chosen for this purpose 
are their legal representatives. In other instances, a board 
of trustees are constituted by the appointment of the found- 
ers of the institution, or by the Legislature of a state, to 
whom is committed the oversight of its concerns, and who 
are consequently the representatives of the founders and pat- 
rons of the school. 

There are differences between these various modes of or- 
ganization wliich I shall not now stop to examine, as it will 
be sufficiently correct for my purpose to consider them all as 
only various ways of organizing the employers in the contract 
by which the teacher is employed. The teacher is the agent ; 
the patrons represented in these several ways are the princi- 
pals. When, therefore, in the following paragraphs I use the. 
word employers, I mean to be understood to speak of the com- 
mittee, or the trustees, or the visitors, or the parents them- 
selves, as the case in each particular institution may be ; that 
is, the persons for whose purpose and at whose expense the 
institution is maintained, or their representatives. 

Now there is a very reasonable and almost universally es- 
tablished rule, which teachers are very frequently prone to 
forget, namely, the employed ought always to he resp)onsihle to the 
employers, and to he under their direction. So obviously rea- 
sonable is this rule, and, in fact, so absolutely indispensable 
in the transaction of all the business of life, that it would be 
idle to attempt to establish and illustrate it here. It has, 
however, limitations, and it is applicable to a much greater 
extent, in some departments of human labor than in others. 
It is applicahle to the business of teaching, and though I con- 
fess that it is somewhat less absolute and imperious here, 
still it is obligatory,* I believe, to a far greater extent than 
teachers have been generally willing to admit. 



208 THE TEACHER. 

A young lady, I will imagine, wishes to introduce the study 
of Botany into her school. The parents or the committee 
object ; they say that they wish the children to confine their 
attention exclusively to the elementary branches of educa- 
tion. " It will do them no good," says the chairman of the 
committee, " to learn by heart some dozen or two of learned 
names. We want them to read well, to write well, and to 
calculate well, and not to waste their time in studying about 
pistils, and stamens, and nonsense." 

Now what is the duty of the teacher in such a case? Why, 
very plainly her duty is the same as that of the governor of 
a state, where the people, through their representatives, reg- 
ularly chosen, negative a proposal which he considers calcu- 
lated to promote the public good. It is his duty to submit 
to the public will ; and, though he may properly do all in his 
power to present the subject to his employers in such a hght 
as to lead them to regard it as he does, he must still, until 
they do so regard it, bow to their authority ; and every mag- 
istrate who takes an enlarged and comprehensive view of his 
duties as the executive of a republican community, will do 
this without any humiliating feelings of submission to un- 
authorized interference with his plans. He will, on the other 
hand, enjoy the satisfaction of feeling that he confines him- 
self to his proper sphere, and leave to others the full posses- 
sion of rights which properly pertain to them. 

It is so with every case where the relation of employer and 
employed subsists. You engage a carpenter to erect a house 
for you, and you present your plan ; instead of going to work 
and executing your orders according to your wishes, he falls 
to criticising and condemning it ; he finds fault with this, and 
ridicules that, and tells you you ought to make such and such 
an alteration in it. It is perfectly right for him to give his 
opinion, in the tone and spirit o^ recommendation or suggestion, 
with a distinct understanding that with his employer rests 
the power and the right to decide. But how many teachers 



SCHEMING. 2G9 

take possession of their school-room as though it was an em- 
pire in which tliej are supreme, who resist every interference 
of their employers as they avouIcI an attack upon their per- 
sonal freedom, and who feel that in regard to every thing 
connected with school they have really no actual responsi- 
bility. 

In most cases, the employers, knowing how sensitive teach- 
ers very frequently are on this point, acquiesce in it, and 
leave them to themselves. Whenever, in any case, they think 
that the state of the school requires their interference, they 
come cautiously and fearfully to the teacher, as if they were 
encroaching upon his rights, instead of advancing with the 
confidence and directness with which employers have always 
a right to approach the employed ; and the teacher, with the 
view he has insensibly taken of the subject, being perhaps 
confirmed by the tone and manner which his employers use, 
makes the conversation quite as often an occasion of resent-- 
ment and oiFense as of improvement. He is silent, perhaps, 
but in his heart he accuses his committee or his trustees of 
improper interference in Ms concerns, as though it was no 
part of their business to look after work which is going for- 
ward for their advantage, and for which they pay. 

Perhaps some individuals who have had some collision with 
their trustees or committee will ask me if I mean that a 
teacher ought to be entirely and immediately under the su- 
pervision and control of the trustees, just as a mechanic is 
Avhen employed by another man. By no means. There are 
various circumstances connected with the nature of this em- 
ployment, such as the impossibility of the employers fully 
understanding it in all its details, and the character and the 
standing of the teacher himself, which always will, in matter 
of fact, prevent this. The employers always will, in a great 
many respects, place more confidence in the teacher and in 
his views than they will in their own. But still, the ulti- 
mate power is theirs. Even if they err, if they wish to have 



270 THE TEACHER. 

a course pursued which is manifestly inexpedient and wrong, 
they still have a right to decide. It is their work ; it is going 
on at their instance and at their expense, and the power of 
ultimate decision on all disputed questions must, from the 
very nature of the case, rest with them. The teacher may, 
it is true, have his option either to comply with their wishes 
or to seek employment in another sphere ; but while he re- 
mains in the employ of any persons, whether in teaching or 
in any other service, he is bound to yield to the wishes of his 
employers when they insist upon it, and to submit good- 
humoredly to their direction when they shall claim their un- 
doubted right to direct. 

This is to be done, it must be remembered, when they are 
wrong as well as when they are right. The obligation of 
the teacher is not founded upon the superior ivisdom of his 
employers in reference to the business for which they have 
engaged him, for they are very probably his inferiors in this 
respect, but upon their riglit as employers to determine how 
their oivn icork shall he done. A gardener, we will suppose, 
is engaged by a gentleman to lay out his grounds. The gar- 
dener goes to work, and, after a few hours, the gentleman 
comes out to see how he goes on and to give directions. He 
proposes something which the gardener, who, to make the 
case stronger, we will suppose knows better than the propri- 
etor of the grounds, considers ridiculous and absurd ; nay, 
we will suppose it is ridiculous and absurd. Now what can 
the gardener do ? There are obviously two courses. He 
can say to the proprietor, after a vain attempt to convince 
him he is wrong, "Well, sir, I will do just as you say. The 
grounds are yours : I have no interest in it or responsibility, 
except to accomplish your wishes." This would be riglit. 
Or he might say, " Sir, you have a right to direct upon your 
own grounds, and I do not wish to interfere with your plans ; 
but I must ask you to obtain another gardener. I have a 
reputation at stake, and this work, if I do it even at your 



SCHESIING. 271 

direction, will be considered as a specimen of my taste and 
of my planning, so that I must, in justice to myself, decline 
remaining in your employment." This, too, would be right, 
though probably, both in the business of gardening and of 
teaching, the case ought to be a strong one to render it ex- 
pedient. 

But it would not be right for him, after his employer should 
have gone away, to say to himself, with a feeling of resent- 
ment at the imaginary interference^ " I shall not follow any 
such directions ; I understand my own trade, and shall receive 
no instructions in it from him ;" and then, disobeying all di- 
rections, go on and do the work contrary to the orders of his 
employer, who alone has a right to decide. 

And yet a great many teachers take a course as absurd 
and unjustifiable as this would be. Whenever the parents, 
or the committee, or the trustees express, however mildly and 
properly, their wishes in regard to the manner in which they 
desire to have their own work performed, their pride is at 
once aroused. They seem to feel it an indignity to act in 
any other way than just in accordance with their own will 
and pleasure ; and they absolutely refuse to comply, resent- 
ing the interference as an insult ; or else, if they apparently 
yield, it is with mere cold civility, and entirely without any 
honest desire to carry the wishes thus expressed into actual 
effect. 

Parents may, indeed, often misjudge. A good teacher will, 
however, soon secure their confidence, and they may acqui- 
esce in his opinion. But they ought to be watchful, and the 
teacher ought to feel and acknowledge their authority on all 
questions connected with the education of their children. 
They have originally entire power in regard to the course 
which is to be pursued with them. Providence has made the 
parents responsible, and wholly responsible, for the manner in 
which their children are prepared for the duties of this life, 
and it is interesting to observe how very cautious the laws of 



2 t Z THE TEACHER. 

society are about interfering with the parent's wishes in re- 
gard to the education of the child. There are many cases in 
which enlightened governments might make arrangements 
which would be better than those made by the parents if 
they are left to themselves. But they will not do it; they 
ought not to do it. God has placed the responsibility in the 
hands of the father and mother, and unless the manner in 
which it is exercised is calculated to endanger or to injure 
the community, there can rightfully be no interference except 
that of argument and persuasion. 

It ought also to be considered that upon the parents will 
come the consequences of the good or bad education of their 
children, and not upon the teacher, and consequently it is 
right that they should direct. The teacher remains, perhaps, 
a few months with his charge, and then goes to other places, 
and perhaps hears of them no more. He has thus very little 
at stake. The parent has every thing at stake ; and it is man- 
ifestly unjust to give one man the power of deciding, while 
he escapes all the consequences of his mistakes, if he makes 
any, and to take away all the iwwer from those upon whose 
heads all the suffering which will follow an abuse of the pow- 
er must descend. 



IlErOKTS OF CASES. 



CHAPTER Vni. 



KEPOKTS OF CASES. 




extensiv 



HEEE is, perhaps, no 
way by which a writ- 
er can more effectually 
explain his views on the 
subject of education than 
by presenting a great va- 
riety of actual cases, whe- 
" ther real or imaginary, 
and describing particu- 
course of treatment which he 
recommend in each. This meth- 
communicating knowledge is very 
resorted to in the medical pro- 



Jf fession, where writers detail particular cases, 
I; and report the symptoms and the treatment for 
' each succeeding day, so that the reader may al- 
most fancy himself actually a visitor at the sick-bed, and the 
nature and effects of the various prescriptions become fixed 
in the mind with almost as much distinctness and perma- 
nency as actual experience would give. 

This principle has been kept in view, the reader may per- 
haps think, too closely in all the chapters of this volume, al- 
most every point brought up having been illustrated by anec- 
dotes and narratives. I propose, however, devoting one chap- 
ter now to presenting a number of miscellaneous cases, with- 
out any attempt to arrange them. Sometimes the case will 
be merely stated, the reader being left to draw the inference ; 
at others, such remarks will be added as the case suggests, 

M2 



274 THE TEACllEK. 

All will, however, be intended to answer some useful pur- 
pose, either to exhibit good or bad management and its con- 
sequences, or to bring to view some trait of human nature, 
as it exhibits itself in children, which it may be desirable for 
the teacher to know. Let it be understood, however, that 
these cases are not selected with reference to their being 
strange or extraordinary. They are rather chosen because 
they are common ; that is, they, or cases similar, will be con- 
stantly occurring to the teacher, and reading such a chapter 
will be the best substitute for experience which the teacher 
can have. Some are descriptions of literary exercises or plans 
which the reader can adojit in classes or with a whole school ; 
others are cases of discipline, good or bad management, Avhich 
the teacher can imitate or avoid. The stories are from va- 
rious sources, and are the results of the experience of several 
individuals. 

1. Hats and Bonnets. — The master of a district school 
was accidentally looking out of the window one day, and he 
saw one of the boys throwing stones at a hat, which was put 
up for that purpose upon the fence. He said nothing about 
it at the time, but made a memorandum of the occurrence, 
that he might bring it before the school at the proper time. 
When the hour set apart for attending to the general busi- 
ness of the school had arrived, and all were still, he said, 

" I saw one of the boys throwing stones at a hat to-day : 
did he do right or wrong V 

There were one or two faint murmurs which sounded like 
^' Wrong,'' but the boys generally made no answer. 

" Perhaps it depends a little upon the question whose hat 
it was. Do you think it does depend upon that *?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"Well, suppose then it was not his own hat, and he was 
throwing stones at it without the owner's consent, would it 
be plain in that case whether he was doing right or wrong'?" 



REPORTS OF CASES. 275 

" Yes, sir ; wrong," was the universal reply. 

"Suppose it was his own hat, would he have been right? 
Has a boy a right to do what he pleases with his own hat V 

"Yes, sir," "Yes, sir;" "No, sir," "No, sir," answered 
the boys, confusedly. 

" I do not know whose hat it was. If the boy who did 
it is willing to rise and tell me, it will help us to decide this 
question." 

The boy, knowing that a severe punishment was not in 
such a case to be anticipated, and, in fact, apparently pleased 
with the idea of exonerating himself from the blame of will- 
fully injuring the property of another, rose and said, 

" I suppose it was I, sir, who did it, and it was my own 
hat." 

" Well," said the master, " I am glad that you are willing 
to tell frankly how it was; but let us look at this case. 
There are two senses in which a hat may be said to belong 
to any person. It may belong to him because he bought it 
and paid for it, or it may belong to him because it fits him 
and he wears it. In other words, a person may have a hat 
as his property, or he may have it only as a part of his dress. 
Now you see that, according to the first of these senses, all 
the hats in this school belong to your fathers. There is not, 
in fact, a single boy in this school who has a hat of his own." 

The boys laughed. 

" Is not this the fact f 

"Yes, sir." 

" It certainly is so, though I suppose James did not con- 
sider it. Your fathers bought your hats. They worked for 
them and paid for them. You are only the wearers, and 
consequently every generous boy, and, in fact, every honest 
boy, will be careful of the property which is intrusted to 
him, but which, strictly speaking, is not his own. 

2. JMiSTAKES. — A wide difference must always be made 



276 THE TEACHER. 

between mistakes arising from carelessness, and those result- 
ing from circumstances beyond control, such as want of suf- 
ficient data, and the like. The former are always censura- 
ble ; the latter never ; for they may be the result of correct 
reasoning from insufficient data, and it is the reasoning only 
for which the child is responsible. 

"What do you suppose a prophet isf said a teacher to a 
class of little boys. The word occurred in their reading lesson. 

The scholars all hesitated ; at last one ventured to reply : 

"If a man should sell a yoke of oxen, and get more for 
them than they are worth, he would be a prophet." 

"Yes," said the instructor, "that is right; that is one 
kind of ^jro/??", but this is another and a little different," and 
he proceeded to explain the word, and the difference of the 
spelling. 

This child had, without doubt, heard of some transaction 
of the kind which he described, and had observed that the 
word 2)roJit was applied to it. Now the care which he had 
exercised in attending to it at the time, and remembering it 
when the same word (for the difference in the spelling he of 
course knew nothing about) occurred again, was really com- 
mendable. The fact, which is a mere accident, that we affix 
very different significations to the same sound, was unknown 
to him. The fault, if any where, was in the language and 
not in him, for he reasoned correctly from the data he pos- 
sessed, and he deserved credit for it. 

The teacher should always discriminate carefully between 
errors of this kind, and those that result from culpable care- 
lessness. 

3. Tardiness. — " My duty to this school," said a teacher 
to his pupils, " demands, as I suppose you all admit, that I 
should require you all to be here punctually at the time ap- 
pointed for the commencement of the school. I have done 
notliing on this subject yet, for I wished to see whether you 



KEPOllTS OF CASES. 277 

would not come early on principle. I wish now, however, to 
inquire in regard to this subject, and to ascertain how many 
have been tardy, and to consider what must be done here- 
after." 

He made the inquiries, and ascertained pretty nearly how 
many had been tardy, and how often within a week. 

The number was found to be so great that the scholars ad- 
mitted that something ought to be done. 

"What shall I dof asked he. " Can any one propose a 
plan which will remedy the difficulty ?" 

There was no answer. 

" The easiest and pleasantest way to secure punctuality is 
for the scholars to come early of their own accord, upon prin- 
ciple. It is evident, from the reports, that many of you do 
so, but some do not. Now there is no other plan which will 
not be attended with very serious difficulty, but I am willing 
to adopt the one which will be most agreeable to yourselves, 
if it will be likely to accomplish the object. Has any one any 
plan to propose?" 

There was a pause. 

" It would evidently," continued the teacher, " be the easi- 
est for me to leave this subject, and do nothing about it. It 
is of no personal consequence to me whether you come early 
or not, but as long as I hold this office I must be faithful, and 
I have no doubt the school committee, if they knew how many 
of you were tardy, would think I ought to do something to di- 
minish the evil. 

" The best plan that I can think of is that all who are tar- 
dy should lose their recess." 

The boys looked rather anxiously at one another, but con- 
tinued silent. 

"There is a great objection to this plan from the fact that 
a boy is sometimes necessarily absent, and by this rule he will 
lose his recess with the rest, so that the innocent will be pun- 
ished with the guilty." 



278 THE TEACHEK. 

" I should think, sir," said William, " that those who are 
necessarily tardy might be excused." 

" Yes, I should be very glad to excuse them, if I could find 
out who they are." 

The boys seemed to be surprised at this remark, as if they 
thought it would not be a difficult matter to decide. 

" How can I tell f asked the master. 

" You can hear their excuses, and then decide." 

*' Yes," said the teacher : " but here are fifteen or twenty 
boys tardy this morning ; now how long would it take me to 
hear their excuses, and understand each case thoroughly, so 
that I could really tell whether they were tardy from good 
reasons or not?" 

No answer. 

" Should you not think it would take a minute apiece f 

"Yes, sir." 

" It would, undoubtedly, and even then I could not in many 
cases tell. It would take fifteen minutes, at least. I can not 
do this in school hours, for I have not time, and if I do it in 
recess it will consume the whole of every recess. Now I need 
the rest of a recess as well as you, and it does not seem to me 
to be just that I should lose the whole of mine every day, and 
spend it in a most unpleasant business, when I take pains my- 
self to come punctually every morning. Would it be just?" 

" No, sir." 

*' I think it would be less unjust to deprive all those of 
their recess who are tardy ; for then the loss of a recess by a 
boy who had not been to blame would not be very common, 
and the evil would be divided among the whole ; but in the 
plan of my hearing the excuses it would all come upon one." 

After a short pause one of the boys said that they might 
be required to bring written excuses. 

"Yes, that is another plan," said the teacher; " but there 
are objections to it. Can any of you think what they are ? 
I suppose you have all been, either at this school or at some 



REPORTS OF CASES. 279 

other, required to bring written excuses, so that you have 
seen the plan tried. Now have jou never noticed any objec- 
tion to it f ' 

One boy said that it gave the parents a great deal of trouble 
at home. 

"Yes," said the teacher, "this is a gi*eat objection; it is 
often very inconvenient to write. But that is not the great- 
est difficulty; can any of you think of any other?" 

There was a pause. 

" Do you think that these written excuses are, after all, a 
fair test of the real reasons for tardiness ? I understand that 
sometimes boys will tease their fathers or mothers for an ex- 
cuse when they do not deserve it, 'Yes, sir,' and sometimes 
they will loiter about when sent of an errand before school, 
knowing that they can get a written excuse, when they might 
easily have been punctual." 

"Yes, sir," "Yes, sir," said the boys. 

" Well, now, if we adopt this plan, some unprincipled boy 
would always contrive to have an excuse, whether necessarily 
tardy or not ; and, besides, each parent would have a differ- 
ent principle and a different opinion as to what was a reason- 
able excuse, so that there would be* no uniformity, and, con- 
sequently, no justice in the operation of the system." 

The boys admitted the truth of this, and, as no other plan 
was presented, tlie rule was adopted of requiring all those who 
were tardy to remain in their seats during the recess, wheth- 
er they were necessarily tardy or not. The plan very soon 
diminished the number of loiterers. 

4. Helen's Lesson. — The possibility of being inflexibly 
firm in measures, and, at the same time, gentle and mild in 
manners and language, is happily illustrated in the following 
description, which is based on an incident narrated by Mrs. 
Sherwood : 

" Mrs. M. had observed, even during the few days that 



280 THE TEACHER. 

Helen had been under her care, that she was totally unac- 
customed to habits of diligence and application. After making 
all due allowance for long-indulged habits of indolence and 
inattention, she one morning assigned an easy lesson to her 
pupil, informing her at the same time that she should hear it 
immediately before dinner. Helen made no objections to the 
plan, but she silently resolved not to perform the required 
task. Being in some measure a stranger, she thought her 
aunt would not insist upon perfect obedience, and besides, in 
her estimation, she was too old to be treated like a child. 

" During the whole morning Helen exerted herself to be 
mild and obliging ; her conduct toward her aunt was uncom- 
monly affectionate. By these and various other artifices she 
endeavored to gain her first victory. Meanwhile Mrs. M. 
quietly pursued her various avocations, without apparently 
noticing Helen's conduct. At length dinner-hour arrived; 
the lesson was called for, but Helen was unprepared. Mrs. 
M. told Helen she was sorry that she had not learned the les- 
son, and concluded by saying that she hoped she would be 
prepared before tea-time. 

" Helen, finding she was not to come to the table, began to 
be a little alarmed. She was acquainted in some measure 
with the character of her aunt, still she hoped to be allowed 
to partake of the dessert, as she had been accustomed to on 
similar occasions at home, and soon regained her wonted 
composure. But the dinner-cloth was removed, and there 
sat Helen, suffering not a little from hunger ; still she would 
not complain ; she meant to convince her aunt that she was 
not moved by trifles. 

'' A walk had been proposed for the afternoon, and as the 
hour drew near, Helen made preparations to accompany the 
party. Mrs. M. reminded her of her lesson, but she just no- 
ticed the remark by a toss of the head, and was soon in the 
green fields, apparently the gayest of the gay. After her re- 
turn from the excursion she complained of a head-ache, which 



REPORTS OF CASES. 281 

in fact she had. She threw herself languidly on the sofa, 
sighed deeply, and took up her History. 

"Tea was now on the table, and most tempting looked 
the white loaf Mrs. M. again heard the pupil recite, but 
was sorry to find the lesson still imperfectly prepared. She 
left her, saying she thought half an hour's additional study 
would conquer all the difficulties she found in the lesson. 

" During all this time Mrs. M. appeared so perfectly calm, 
composed, and even kind, and so regardless of sighs and dole- 
ful exclamations, that Helen entirely lost her equanimity, and 
let her tears How freely and abundantly. Her mother was al- 
ways moved by her tears, and would not her aunt relent ? No. 
Mrs. M. quietly performed the duties of the table, and order- 
ed the tea-equipage to be removed. This latter movement 
brought Helen to reflection. It is useless to resist, thought 
she ; indeed, why should I wish to ? Nothing too much has 
been required of me. How ridiculous I have made myself 
appear in the eyes of my aunt, and even of the domestics ! 

" In less than an hour she had the satisfaction of reciting 
her lesson perfectly ; her aunt made no comments on the oc- 
casion, but assigned her the next lesson, and went on sewing. 
Helen did not expect this ; she had anticipated a refreshing- 
cup of tea after the long siege. She had expected that even 
something nicer than usual would be necessary to compensate 
her for her past sufferings. At length, worn out by long- 
continued watching and fasting, she went to the closet, pro- 
vided herself with a cracker, and retired to bed to muse de- 
liberately on the strange character of her aunt. 

"Teachers not unfrequently threaten their pupils with 
some proper punishment, but, when obliged to put the threat 
into execution, contrive in some indirect way to abate its 
rigor, and thus destroy all its effects. For example, a mother 
was in the habit, when her little boy ran beyond his pre- 
scribed play-ground, of putting him into solitaiy confinement. 
On such occasions, she was very careful to have some amus- 



282 THE TEACHER. 

ing book or diverting plaything in a conspicuous part of the 
room, and not unfrequently a piece of gingerbread was given 
to solace the runaway. The mother thought it very strange 
her little boy should so often transgress, when he knew what 
to expect from such a course of conduct. The boy was wiser 
than the mother ; lie knew perfectly well how to manage the 
business. He could play with the boys beyond the garden 
gate, and if detected, to be sure he was obliged to spend a 
quiet hour in the pleasant parlor. But this was not intoler- 
able as long as he could expect a paper of sugar-plums, a 
cake, or at least something amply to compensate him for the 
loss of a game at marbles." 

5. Complaints of Long Lessons. — A college officer as- 
signed lessons which the idle and ignorant members of the 
class thought too long. They murmured for a time, and at 
last openly complained. The other members of the class 
could say nothing in behalf of the professor, awed by the 
greatest of all fears to a collegian, the fear of being called a 
'•'• jislier'''' or a " hluesldnP The professor paid no attention to 
the petitions and complaints which were poured in upon him, 
and which, though originated by the idle, all were compelled 
to vote for. He coldly, and with uncompromising dignity, 
went on ; the excitement in the class increased, and what is 
called a college rebellion, with all its disastrous consequences 
to the infatuated rebels, ensued. 

Another professor had the dexterity to manage the case in 
a different way. After hearing that there was dissatisfac- 
tion, he brought up the subject as follows: 

" I understand, gentlemen, that you consider your lessons 
too long. Perhaps I have overrated the abilities of the class, 
but I have not intended to assign you more than you can ac- 
complish. I feel no other interest in the subject than the 
pride and pleasure it would give me to have my class stand 
high, in respect to the amount of ground it has gone over, 



REPORTS OF CASES. 283 

when you come to examination. I propose, therefore, that 
you appoint a committee, in whose abilities and judgment 
you can confide, and let them examine this subject and report. 
They might ascertain how much other classes have done, and 
how much is expedient for this class to attempt ; and then, 
by estimating the number of recitations assigned to this study, 
they can easily determine what should be the length of the 
lessons." 

The plan was adopted, and the report put an end to the 
difficulty. 

6. English Coiniposition. — The great prevailing fault of 
writers in this country is an aiFectation of eloquence. It is 
almost universally the fashion to aim, not at striking thoughts, 
simply and clearly expressed, but at splendid language, glow- 
ing imagery, and magnificent periods. It arises, perhaps, 
from the fact that public speaking is the almost universal 
object of ambition, and, consequently, both at school and at 
college, nothing is thought of but. oratory. Vain attempts 
at oratory result, in nine cases out of ten, in grandiloquence 
and empty verbiage — common thoughts expressed in pom- 
pous periods. 

The teacher should guard against this, and assign to chil- 
dren such subjects as are within the field of childish observa- 
tion. A little skill on his part will soon determine the ques- 
tion which kind of writing shall prevail in his school. The 
following specimens, both written with some skill, will illus- 
trate the two kinds of writing alluded to. Both were writ- 
ten by pupils of the same age, twelve ; one a boy, the other 
a girl. The subjects were assigned by the teacher. I need 
not say that the following was the writer's first attempt at 
composition, and that it is printed without alteration. 



'AIXS OF A 



Life. 



The joyful sailor embarks on board of his ship, the sails are spread to 
catch the playful gale, swift as an arrow he cuts the rolling wave. A 



284 THE TEACHER. 

few days thus sporting on the briny wave, when suddenly the sky is 
overspread with clouds, the rain descends in torrents, the sails are low- 
ered, the gale begins, the vessel is carried with great velocity, and the 
shrouds, unable to support the tottering mast, gives way to the furious 
tempest ; the vessel is drove among the rocks, is sprung aleak ; the sailor 
works at the pumps till, faint and weary, is heard from below, six feet 
of water in the hold ; the boats are got ready, but, before they are into 
them, the vessel is dashed against a reef of rocks; some, in despair, throw 
themselves into the sea ; others get on the rocks without any clothes 
or provisions, and linger a few days, perhaps weeks or months, living 
on shell fish, or perhaps taken up by some ship ; others get on pieces 
of the wreck, and perhaps be cast on some foreign country, where per- 
haps he may be taken by the natives, and sold into slavery where he 
never more returns. 

In regard to the following specimen, it should be stated 
that when the subject was assigned, the pupil was directed 
to see how precisely she could imitate the language and con- 
versation which two little children really lost in the woods 
would use. While writing, therefore, her mind was in pur- 
suit of the natural and the simple, not of the eloquent. 

Two Children lost in the Woods. 

Emily. Look here ! see how many berries I've got. I don't believe 
you've got so many. 

Charles. Yes, Tm sure I have. My basket's almost full ; and if we 
hurry, we shall get ever so many before we go home. So pick away as 
fast as you can, Emily. 

Emily. There, mine is full. Now we'll go and find some flowers for 
mother. You know somebody told us there were some red ones close 
to that rock. 

Charles. Well, so we will. We'll leave our baskets here, and come 
back and get them. 

Emily. But if we can't find our way back, what shall we do 1 

Charles. Poh ! I can find the way back. I only want a quarter to 
seven years old, and I sha'n't lose myself, I know. 

Emily. Well, we've got flowers enough, and now I'm tired and want 
to go home. 

Charles. I don't ; but, if you are tired, we'll go and find our baskets. 

Emily. Where do you think they are '\ We've been looking a great 
' while for them. I know we are lost, for when we went after the 



KEPOKTS OF CASES. 285 

flowers we only turned once, and coming back we have turned three 
times. 

Charles. Have we 1 Well, never mind, I guess we shall find them. 

Emily. I'm afraid we sha'n't. Do let's run. 

Charles. Well, so do. Oh, Emily ! here's a brook, and I am sure we 
didn't pass any brook going. 

Emily. Oh dear ! we must be lost. Hark ! Charles, didn't you hear 
that dreadful noise just now 1 W^asn't it a bear ? 

Charles. Poh ! I should love to see a bear here. I guess, if he should 
come near me, I would give him one good slap that would make him 
feel pretty bad. I could kill him at the first hit. 

Emily. I should like to see you taking hold of a bear. Why, didn't 
you know bears were stronger than men ? But only see how dark it 
grows ; we sha'n't see ma to-night, I'm afraid. 

Charles. So am I : do let's run some more. 

Emily. Oh, Charles, do you believe we shall ever find the way out of 
this dreadful long wood 1 

Charles. Let's scream, and see if somebody won't come. 

Emily. Well (screaming), ma ! ma ! 

Charles (screaming also). Pa ! pa ! 

Emily. Oh dear ! there's the sun setting. It will be dreadfully dark 
by-and-by, won't it 1 

We have given enough for a specimen. The composition, 
though faulty in many respects, illustrates the point we had 
in view. 

7. Insincere Confession. — An assistant in a school in- 
formed the principal that she had some difficulty in preserv- 
ing order in a certain class composed of small children. The 
principal accordingly went into the class, and something like 
the following dialogue ensued : 

" Your teacher informs me," said the principal, " that there 
is not perfect order in the class. Now if you are satisfied 
that there has not been order, and wish to help me discover 
and correct the fault, we can do it very easily. If, on the 
other hand, you do not wish to co-operate with me, it will 
be a little more difficult for me to correct it, and I must take 
a different course. Now I wish to know, at the outset, wheth- 
er you do or do not wish to help me^" 



286 THE TEACHElt. 

A faint " Yes, sir," was murmured through the class. 

"I do not wish you to assist me unless you really and hon- 
estly desire it yourselves ; and if you undertake to do it, you 
must do it honestly. The first thing which will be necessa- 
ry will be an open and thorough exposure of all which has 
been wrong, and this, you know, will be unpleasant. But I 
will put the question to vote by asking how many are will- 
ing that I should know, entirely and fully, all that they have 
done in this class that has been wrong?" 

Very nearly all the hands were raised at once, promptly, 
and the others were gradually brought up, though with more 
or less of hesitation. 

" Are you willing not only to tell me yourselves what you 
have done, but also, in case any one has forgotten something 
which she has done, that others should tell me of it ?" 

The hands were all raised. 

After obtaining thus from the class a distinct and univer- 
sal expression of willingness that all the facts should be made 
known, the principal called upon all those who had any thing 
to state to raise their hands, and those who raised them had 
opportunity to say what they wished. A great number of 
very trifling incidents were mentioned, such as could not have 
produced any difficulty in the class, and, consequently, could 
not have been the real instances of disorder alluded to. Or 
at least it was evident, if they were, that in the statement 
they must have been so palliated and softened that a really 
honest confession had not been made. This result might, in 
such a case, have been expected. Such is human nature, that 
in nine cases out of ten, unless such a result had been partic- 
ularly guarded against, it would have inevitably followed. 

Not only will such a result follow in individual cases like 
this, but, unless the teacher watches and guards against it, it 
will grow into a habit. I mean, boys will get a sort of an 
idea that it is a fine thing to confess their faults, and by a 
show of humility and frankness will deceive their teacher, and 



KEPORTS OF CASES. 287 

j)erhaps themselves, by a sort of acknowledgment, which in 
fact exposes nothing of the guilt which the transgressor pro- 
fesses to expose. A great many cases occur where teachers 
are pleased with the confession of faults, and scholars perceive 
it, and the latter get into the habit of coming to the teacher 
when they have done something which they think may get 
them into difficulty, and make a sort of half confession, which, 
by bringing forward every palliating circumstance, and sup- 
pressing every thing of different character, keeps entirely out 
of view all the real guilt of the transgression. The criminal 
is praised by the teacher for the frankness and honesty of the 
confession, and his fault is freely forgiven. He goes away, 
therefore, well satisfied with himself, when, in fact, he has been 
only submitting to a little mortification, voluntarily, to avoid 
the danger of a greater ; much in the same spirit with that 
which leads a man to receive the small-pox by inoculation, 
to avoid the danger of taking it in the natural way. 

The teacher wdio accustoms his pupils to confess their 
faults voluntarily ought to guard carefully against this dan- 
ger. When such a case as the one just described occurs, it 
will afford a favorable opportunity of showing distinctly to 
pupils the difference between an honest and a hypocritical 
confession. In this instance the teacher proceeded thus : 

" Now there is one more question which I wish you all to 
answer by your votes honestly. It is this. Do you think 
that the real disorder which has been in this class — that is, 
the real cases which you referred to when you stated to me 
that you thought that the class was not in good order — have 
been now really exposed, so that I honestly and fully under- 
stand the case ? How many suppose so f 

Not a single hand was raised. 

" How many of you think, and are willing to avow your 
opinion, that I have not been fully informed of the case '?" 

A large proportion held up their hands. 

"Now it seems the class pretended to be willing that I 



288 THE TEACJIEK. 

should know all the affair. You pretended to be willing to 
tell me the whole, but when I call upon you for the hiforma- 
tion, instead of telling me honestly, you attempt to amuse 
me by little trifles, which in reality made no disturbance, and 
you omit the things which you know were the real objects 
of my inquiries. Am I right in my supposition V* 

They were silent. After a moment's pause, one perhaps 
raised her hand, and began now to confess something which 
she had before concealed. 

The teacher, however, interrupted her by saying, 

" I do not wish to have the confession made now. I gave 
you all time to do that, and now I should rather not hear 
any more about the disorder. I gave an opportunity to have 
it acknowledged, but it was not honestly improved, and now 
I should rather not hear. I shall probably never know. 

"I wished to see whether this class would be honest — 
really honest, or whether they would have the insincerity to 
pretend to be confessing when they were not doing so hon- 
estly, so as to get the credit of being frank and sincere, when 
in reality they are not so. Now am I not compelled to con- 
clude that this latter is the case?" 

Such an example will make a deep and lasting impression. 
It will show that tlie teacher is upon his guard ; and there 
are very few so hardened in deception that they would not 
wish that they had been really sincere rather than rest under 
such an imputation. 

8. Court. — A pupil, quite young (says a teacher), came 
to me one day with a complaint that one of her companions 
had got her seat. There had been some changes in the seats 
by my permission, and probably, from some inconsistency in 
the promises which I had made, there were two claimants 
for the same desk. The complainant came to me, and ap- 
pealed to my recollection of the circumstance. 

" I do not recollect anv thing about it," said I. 



KEPORTS OF CASES. 289 

" Why, Mr. B. !" replied she, with astonishment. 

" No," said I ; " you forget that I have, every day, arrange- 
ments, almost vp^ithout number, of such a kind to make, and 
as soon as I have made one I immediately forget all about 
it." 

" "Why, don't you remember that you got me a new baize f 

" No ; I ordered a dozen new baizes at that time, but I do 
not remember who they were for." 

There was a pause ; the disappointed complainant seemed 
not to know what to do. 

" I will tell you Avhat to do. Bring the case into court, 
and I will try it regularly." 

" VThj, ]Mr. B., I do not like to do any thing like that about 
it ; besides, I do not know how to write an indictment." 

" Oh," I answered, " the scholars will like to have a good 
trial, and this will make a new sort of case. All our cases 
thus far have been for qfenses — that is what they call crim- 
inal cases — and this will be only an examination of the con- 
flicting claims of two individuals to the same property, and it 
will excite a good deal of interest. I think you had better 
bring it into court." 

She went slowly and thoughtfully to her seat, and pres- 
ently returned with an indictment. 

" Mr. B., is this right ?" 

It was as follows : 

I accuse Miss A. B. of coming to take away my seat — the one Mr 

B. gave me. 

Witnesses, ) 

< E. T. 

"Why — yes — that will do ; and yet it is not exactly right. 
You see this is what they call a civil case." 

"I don't think it is very civil'" 

" No, I don't mean it was civil to take your seat, but this 
is not a case where n person is prosecuted for having done 
nny thing wrone." 

N 



290 THE TEACHER. 

The plaintiff looked a little perplexed, as if she could not 
understand how it could be otherwise than wrong for a girl 
to usurp her seat. 

" I mean, you do not bring it into court as a case of wrong. 
You do not want her to be punished, do you V 

"Ko, I only want her to give me up my seat; I don't 
want her to be punished." 

" Well, then, you see that, although she may have done 
wrong to take your seat, it is not in that point of view that 
you bring it into court. It is a question about the right of 
property, and the lawyers call such cases civil cases, to distin- 
guish them from cases where persons are tried for the purpose 
of being punished for doing wrong. These last are called 
criminal cases." 

The aggrieved party still looked perplexed. " Well, Mr. 
B.," she continued, "what shall I do'? How shall I write 
if? I can not say any thing about civil in it, can I f 

A form was given her which would be proper for the pur- 
pose, and the case was brought forward, and the evidence on 
both sides examined. The irritation of the quarrel was soon 
dissipated in the amusement of a semi-serious trial, and both 
parties good-humoredly acquiesced in the decision. 

9. Teachers' Personal Character. — Much has been 
said within a few years, by writers on the subject of educa- 
tion in this country, on the desirableness of raising the business 
of teaching to the rank of a learned profession. There is but 
one way of doing this, and that is raising the personal char- 
acters and attainments of the teachers themselves. Whether 
an employment is elevated or otherwise in public estimation, 
depends altogether on the associations connected with it in the 
public mind, and these depend altogether on the characters 
of the individuals who are engaged in it. Franklin, by the 
simple fact that he was a printer himself, has done more to- 
ward giving dignity and respectability to the employment of 



REPORTS OF CASES. 291 

printing, than a hundred orations on the intrinsic excellence 
of the art. In fact, all mechanical employments have, with- 
in a few years, risen in rank in this country, not through the 
mfluence of efforts to impress the community directly with a 
sense of their importance, but simply because mechanics 
themselves have risen in intellectual and moral character. 
In the same manner, the employment of the teacher will be 
raised most effectually in the estimation of the public, not by 
the individual who writes the most eloquent oration on the 
intrinsic dignity of the art, but by the one who goes forward 
most successfully in the exercise of it, and who, by his gen- 
eral attainments and pubUc character, stands out most fully 
to the view of the public as a weU-informed, liberal-minded, 
and useful man. 

If this is so — and it can not well be denied — it furnishes 
to every teacher a strong motive to exertion for the improve- 
ment of his own personal character. But there is a stronger 
motive still in the results which flow directly to himself from 
such efforts. No man ought to engage in any business which, 
as mere business, will engross all his time and attention. 
The Creator has bestowed upon every one a mind, upon the 
cultivation of which our rank among intelligent beings, our 
happiness, our moral and intellectual power, every thing val- 
uable to us, depend ; and after all the cultivation which we 
can bestow, in this life, upon this mysterious principle, it will 
still be in embryo. The progress which it is capable of mak- 
ing is entirely indefinite. If by ten years of cultivation we 
can secure a certain degi'ee of knowledge and power, by ten 
more we can double, or more than double it, and every suc- 
ceeding year of effort is attended with equal success. There 
is no point of attainment where we must stop, or beyond 
which effort will bring in a less valuable return. 

Look at that teacher, and consider for a moment his con- 
dition. He began to teach when he was twenty years of 
age, and now he is forty. Between the ages of fifteen and 



292 THE TEACllKK. 

twenty he made a vigorous effort to acquire such an educa- 
tion as would fit him for these duties. He succeeded, and 
by these efforts he raised himself from being a mere laborer, 
receiving for his daily toil a mere daily subsistence, to the 
respectability and the comforts of an intellectual pursuit. 
But this change once produced, he stops short in his progress. 
Once seated in his desk, he is satisfied, and for twenty years 
he has been going through the same routine, without any ef- 
fort to advance or to improve. He does not reflect that the 
same efforts, which so essentially altered his condition and 
prospects at twenty, would have carried him forward to high- 
er and higher sources of influence and enjoyment as long as 
he should continue them. His efforts ceased when he ob- 
tained a situation as teacher at fifty dollars a month, and, 
though twenty years have glided away, he is now exactly 
what he was then. 

There is probably no employment Avhatever which affords 
so favorable an opportunity for personal improvement — for 
steady intellectual and moral progress, as that of teaching. 
There are two reasons for this : 

First, there is time for it. With an ordinary degree of 
health and strength, the mind can be vigorously employed at 
least ten hours a day. As much as this is required of stu- 
dents in many literary institutions. In fact, ten hours to 
study, seven to sleep, and seven to food, exercise, and recre- 
ation, is perhaps as good an arrangement as can be made ; at 
any rate, very few persons will suppose that such a plan al- 
lows too little under the latter head. Now six hours is as 
much as is expected of a teacher under ordinary circumstan- 
ces, and it is as much as ought ever to be bestowed; for, 
though he may labor four hours out of school in some new 
field, his health and spirits will soon sink under the burden, 
if, after his weary labors during the day in school, he gives 
up his evenings to the same perplexities and cares. And it 
is not necessary. No one who knows any thing of the na- 



REPORTS OF CASES. 293 

ture of the liiiman mind, and who will reflect a moment on 
the subject, can doubt that a man can make a better school 
by expending six hours labor upon it with alacrity and ardor, 
than he can by driving himself on to ten. Every teacher, 
therefore, who is commencing his w^ork, should begin with 
the firm determination of devoting only six hours daily to the 
pursuit. Make as good a school, and accomplish as much 
for it as you can in six hours, and let the rest go. When you 
come from your school-room at night, leave all your perplex- 
ities and cares behind you. No matter what unfinished busi- 
ness or unsettled difficulties remain, dismiss them till an- 
other sun shall rise, and the hour of duty for another day 
shall come. Carry no school-work home with you, and do 
not even talk of your school-work at home. You will then 
get refreshment and rest. Your mind, during the evening, 
will be in a difl:erent world from that in which you have 
moved during the day. At first this will be difficult. It will 
be hard for you, unless your mind is uncommonly well disci- 
plined, to dismiss all your cares ; and you will think, each 
evening, that some peculiar emergency demands your atten- 
tion just at that time, and that as soon as you have passed the 
crisis you will confine yourself to what you admit are gener- 
ally reasonable limits; but if you once allow school, with its 
perplexities and cares, to get possession of the rest of the day, 
it will keep possession. It will intrude itself into all your 
waking thoughts, and trouble you in your dreams. You will 
lose all command of your powers, and, besides cutting oflT 
from yourself all hope of general intellectual progress, you 
will, in fact, destroy your success as a teacher. Exhaustion, 
weariness, and anxiety will be your continual portion, and in 
such a state no business can be successfully prosecuted. 

There need be no fear that employers will be dissatisfied 
if the teacher acts upon this principle. If he is faithful, and 
enters with all his heart into the discharge of his duties du- 
ring six hours, there will be something in the ardor, and alac- 



294 THE TEACHER. 

rity, and spirit with which his duties will be performed 
which parents and scholars will both be very glad to receive 
in exchange for the languid, and dull, and heartless toil in 
which the other method must sooner or later result. 

If the teacher, then, will confine himself to such a portion 
of time as is, in fact, all he can advantageously employ, there 
will be much left which can be devoted to his own private 
employment — more than is usual in the other avocations of 
life. In most of these other avocations there is not the same 
necessity for limiting the hours which a man may devote to 
his business. A merchant, for example, may be employed 
nearly all the day at his counting-room, and so may a me- 
chanic. A physician may spend all his waking hours in vis- 
iting patients, and feel little more than healthy fatigue. The 
reason is, that in all these employments, and, in fact, in most 
of the employments of life, there is so much to diversify, so 
many little incidents constantly occurring to animate and re- 
lieve, and so much bodily exercise, which alternates with and 
suspends the fatigues of the mind, that the labors may be 
much longer continued, and with less cessation, and yet the 
health not suffer. But the teacher, while engaged in his 
work, has his mind continually on the stretch. There is 
little relief, little respite, and he is almost entirely deprived of 
bodily exercise. He must, consequently, limit his hours of 
attending to his business, or his health will soon sink under 
labors which Providence never intended the human mind to 
bear. 

There is another circumstance which facilitates the prog- 
ress of the teacher. It is a fact that all this general progress 
has a direct and immediate bearing upon his pursuits. A 
lawyer may read in an evening an interesting book of travels, 
and find nothing to help him with his case, the next day, in 
court ; but almost every fact which the teacher thus learns 
will come at once into use in some of his recitations at school. 



REPORTS OF CASES. 



295 



We do not mean to imply by this that the members of the 
legal profession have not need of a great variety and extent 
of knowledge ; they doubtless have. It is simply in the di- 
rectness and certainty with which the teacher's knowledge may 
be applied to his purpose that the business of teaching has 
the advantage over every other pursuit. 

This fact, now, has a very important influence in encoura- 
ging and leading forward the teacher to make constant intel- 
lectual progress, for every step brings at once a direct reward. 



10. The Chestnut Burk. — A story for school-hoys. — One 
fine Saturday afternoon, in the fall of the year, the master 
was taking a w^alk in the woods, and 
he came to a place where a number of 
bo} s were gathering chestnuts. 

One of the boys was sitting upon a 
bank trying to open some chestnut burrs 
\\ Inch he had knocked off from the tree. 
The burrs were green, and he was at- 
tempting to open them by pounding 
them with a stone. 

He was a very impatient 
boy, and was scolding in a 




'J9(} THE TEACHER. 

ioud, angry tone against the burrs. He did not see, he said, 
what in the world chestnuts were made to grow so for.- 
They ought to grow right out in the open air, like apples, 
and not have such vile porcupine skins on them, just to 
plague the boys. So saying, he struck with all his might 
a fine large burr, crushed it to pieces, and then jumped up, 
using at the same time profane and wicked words. As soon 
as he turned round he saw the master standing very near 
him. He felt very much ashamed and afraid, and hung down 
his head. 

" Eoger," said the master (for this boy's name was Koger), 
" can you get me a chestnut burr?" 

Eoger looked up for a moment to see whether the master 
was in earnest, and then began to look around for a burr. 

A boy who w^as standing near the tree, with a red cap full 
of burrs in his hand, held out one of them. Eoger took the 
burr and handed it to the master, who quietly put it into his 
pocket, and walked away without saying a w^ord. 

As soon as he was gone, the boy with the red cap said to 
Eoger, " I expected that the master would have given you a 
good scolding for talking so." 

" The master never scolds," said another boy, who was 
sitting on a log pretty near, with a green satchel in his hand, 
" but you see if he does not remember it." Eoger looked as 
if he did not know what to think about it. 

" I wish," said he, " I knew what he is going to do with 
that burr." 

That afternoon, when the lessons had been all recited, and 
it was about time to dismiss the school, the boys put away 
their books, and the master read a few verses in the Bible, 
and then offered a prayer, in which he asked God to forgive 
all the sins which any of them had committed that day, and 
to take care of them during the night. After this he asked 
the boys all to sit down. He then took his handkerchief out 
of his pocket and laid it on the desk, and afterward he put 



REPORTS OF CASES. 297 

his hand into his pocket again, and took out the chestnut 
burr, and all the boys looked at it. 

"Boys," said he, "do you know what this is?" 

One of the boys in the back seat said, in a half whisper, 
"It is nothing but a chestnut burr." 

"Lucy," said the master to a bright-eyed little girl near 
him, " what is this ?" 

" It is a chestnut burr, sir," said she. 

"Do you know what it is for?" 

" I suppose there are chestnuts in it." 

" But what is this rough, prickly covering for V 

Lucy did not know. 

" Does any body here knowf said the master. 

One of the boys said that he supposed it was to hold the 
chestnuts together, and keep them up on the tree. 

" But I heard a boy say," replied the master, " that they 
ought not to be made to grow so. The nut itself, he thought, 
ought to hang alone on the branches, without any prickly 
covering, just as apples do." 

"But the nuts themselves have no stems to be fastened 
by," answered the same boy. 

" That is true ; but I suppose this boy thought that God 
could have made them grow with stems, and that this would 
have been better than to have them in burrs." 

After a little pause the master said that he would explain 
to them what the chestnut burr was for, and wished them all 
to listen attentively. 

" How much of the chestnut is good to eat, William f 
asked he, looking at a boy before him. 

" Only the meat." 

" How long does it take the meat to growf 

" All summer, I suppose, it is growing." 

"Yes ; it begins early in the summer, and gradually swells 
and grows until it has become of fall size, and is ripe, in the 
fall. Now suppose there was a tree out here near the school - 

N2 



298 THE TEACHER. 

house, and the chestnut meats should grow upon it without 
any shell or covering ; suppose, too, that they should taste 
like good ripe chestnuts at first, when they were very small. 
Do you think they would be safe?" 

William said " No ; the boys would pick and eat them be- 
fore they had time to grow." 

" AVell, what harm would there be in that? Would it hot 
be as well to have the chestnuts early in the summer as to 
have them in the fall?" 

William hesitated. Another boy who sat next to him 
said, 

" There would not be so much meat in the chestnuts if 
they were eaten before they had time to grow." 

" Eight," said the master; " but would not the boys know 
this, and so all agree to let the little chestnuts stay, and not 
eat tliem while they were small ?" 

William said he thought they would not. If the chest- 
nuts were good, he was afraid they would pick them off and 
eat them if they were small. 

All the rest of the boys in the school thought so too. 

"Here, then," said the master, "is one reason for having 
prickles around the chestnuts when they are small. But then 
it is not necessary to have all chestnuts guarded from boys in 
this way ; a great many of the trees are in the woods, which 
the boys do not see; what good do the burrs do in these 
trees?" 

The boys hesitated. Presently the boy who had the green 
satchel under the tree with Eoger, who was sitting in one 
corner of the room, said, 

" I should think they would keep the squirrels from eating 
them. 

" And besides," continued he, after thinking a moment, 
" I should suppose, if the meat of the chestnut had no cover- 
ing, the rain would wet it and make it rot, or the sun might 
dry and wither it." 



REPORTS OF CASES. 299 

" Yes," said the master, " these are veiy good reasons why 
the nut should be carefully guarded. First the meats are 
packed away in a hard brown shell, which the water can not 
get through ; this keeps it dry, and away from dust and oth- 
er things which might injure it. Then several nuts thus pro- 
tected grow closely together inside this green, prickly cover- 
ing, which spreads over them and guards them from the 
larger animals and the boys. Where the chestnut gets its 
full growth and is ripe, this covering, you know, splits open, 
and the nuts drop out, and then any body can get them and 
eat them." 

The boys were then all satisfied that it was better that 
chestnuts should grow in burrs. 

" But why," asked one of the boys, " do not apples grow 
so?" 

"Can any body answer that question f asked the master. 

The boy with the green satchel said that apples had a 
smooth, tight skin, which kept out the wet, but he did not see 
how they were guarded from animals. 

The master said it was by their taste. " They are hard 
and sour before they are full grown, and so the taste is not 
pleasant, and nobody wishes to eat them, except sometimes a 
few foolish boys, and these are punished by being made sick. 
When the apples are full grown, they change from sour to 
sweet, and become mellow — then they can be eaten. Can 
you tell me of any other fruits which are preserved in this 
way?" 

One boy answered, "Strawberries and blackberries;" and 
another said, " Peaches and pears." 

Another boy asked why the peach-stone was not outside 
the peach, so as to keep it from being eaten ; but the master 
said that he Avould explain this another time. Then he dis- 
missed the scholars, after asking Roger to wait until the rest 
had gone, as he wished to see him alone. 

Several of the articles which follow were communicated 



300 THE TKACHEK. 

for this work by (lifferent teachers, at the request of the au- 
thoi-. 

11. The Series of Writing Lessons. — Very many pu- 
pils soon become weary of the dull and monotonous business 
of writing, unless some jilans are devised to give interest and 
variety to the exercise ; and, on this account, this branch of 
education, in which improvement may be most rapid, is oft- 
en the last and most tedious to be acquired. 

A teacher, by adopting the following plan, succeeded in 
awakening a p^rcat degree of interest on the subject, and, con- 
sequently, of promoting rapid improvement. The plan was 
this : he prepared, on a large sheet of paper, a series of les- 
sons in coarse-hand, beginning with straight lines, and pro- 
ceeding to the elementary parts of the various letters, and 
finally to the letters themselves. This paper was posted up 
in a part of the room accessible to all. 

The writing-books were made of three sheets of fools- 
cap paper, folded into a convenient size, making twenty-four 
pages in the book. The books were to be ruled by the pupil, 
for it was thought important that each should learn this art. 
Every pupil in school, then, being furnished with one of these 
^vriting-books, was required to commence this series, and to 
practice each lesson until he could write it well ; then, and 
not till then, he was permitted to pass to the next. A few 
brief directions were given under each lesson on the large 
sheet. For example, under the line of straight marks, which 
constituted the first lesson, was written as follows : 

Straight, eqiiidistaiit, parallel, smooth, ivell-tcrminated. 

These directions were to call the attention of the pupil to 
the excellences which he must aim at, and when he supposed 
he had secured them, his book was to be presented to the 
teacher for examination. If approved, the word Passed, or, 
afterward, simply P., was written under the line, and he could 



REPORTS OF CASES. 301 

then proceed to the next lesson. Other requisites were nec- 
essary, besides the correct formation of the letters, to enable 
one to pass ; for example, the page must not be soiled or blot- 
ted, no paper must be wasted, and, in no case, a leaf torn out. 
As soon as one line was written in the manner required, the 
scholar Avas allowed to pass. In a majority of cases, how- 
ever, not less than a page would be practiced, and in many 
instances a sheet would be covered, before one line could be 
produced which would be approved. 

One peculiar excellency of this method was, that although 
the whole school were working under a regular and system- 
atic plan, individuals could go on independently ; that is, the 
progress of no scholar was retarded by that of his compan- 
ion ; the one more advanced might easily pass the earlier les- 
sons in a few days, while the others would require weeks of 
practice to acquire the same degree of skill. 

During the writing-hour the scholars would practice each 
at the lesson where he left off before, and at a particular 
time each day the books were brought from the regular place 
of deposit and laid before the teacher for examination. 
Without some arrangement for an examination of all the 
books together, the teacher would be liable to interruption at 
any time from indi\^dual questions and requests, which would 
consume much time, and benefit only a few. 

When a page of writing could not pass, a brief remark, 
-calling the attention of the pupil to the faults which prevent- 
ed it, was sometimes made in pencil at the bottom of the 
page. In other cases, the fault was of such a character as 
to require full and minute oral directions to the pupil. At 
last, to facilitate the criticism of the writing, a set of arbi- 
trary marks, indicative of the various faults, was devised and 
applied, as occasion might require, to the writing-books, by 
means of red ink. 

These marks, which were very simple in their character, 
were easily remembered, for there was generally some con- 



302 ' THE TEACHEK. 

nection between the sign and the thing signified. For ex- 
ample, the mark denoting that letters were too short was 
simply lengthening them in red ink ; a faulty curve was de- 
noted by making a new curve over the old one, &c. The 
following are the principal criticisms and directions for which 
marks were contrived : 

Strokes rough. Too tall or too short. 

Curve wrong. Stems not straight. 

Bad termination. Careless work 

Too slanting, and the reverse. Paper wasted. 

Too broad, and the reverse. Almost well enough to pass. 

Not parallel. Bring your book to the teacher. 

Form of the letter bad. Former fault not corrected. 
Large stroke made too fine, and 
the reverse. 

A catalogue of these marks, with an explanation, was made 
out and placed where it was accessible to all, and by means 
of them the books could be very easily and rapidly, but thor- 
oughly criticised. 

After the plan had gone on for some time, and its opera- 
tion was fully understood, the teacher gave up the business 
of examining the books into the hands of a committee, ap- 
pointed by him from among the older and more advanced pu- 
pils. That the committee might be unbiased in their judg- 
ment, they were required to examine and decide upon the 
books without knowing the names of the writers. Each 
scholar was, indeed, required to place her name on the right 
hand upper corner of every page of her writing-book, for the 
convenience of the distributors ; but this corner was turned 
down when the book was brought in, that it might not be 
seen by the committee. 

This committee was invested with plenary powers, and 
there was no appeal from their decision. In case they exer- 
cised their authority in an improper way, or failed on any ac- 
count to give satisfaction, they were liable to impeachment, but 
while they continued in office they were to be strictly obeyed. 



REPORTS OP CASES. 303 

This plan went on successfully for three months, and with 
very little diminution of interest. The whole school went 
regularly through the lessons in coarse-hand, and afterward 
through a similar series in fine-hand, and improvement in 
this branch was thought to be greater than at any former 
period in the same length of time. 

The same principle of arranging the several steps of an art 
or a study into a series of lessons, and requiring the pupil to 
pass regularly from one to the other, might easily be applied 
to other studies, and would afibrd an agreeable variety. 

12. The Correspondence. — A master of a district school 
was walking through the room with a large rule in his hands, 
and as he came up behind two small boys, he observed that 
they were playing with some papers. He struck them once 
or twice, though not very severely, on the head with the rule 
which he had in his hand. Tears started from the eyes of 
one. They were called forth by a mingled feeling of grief, 
mortification, and pain. The other, who was of "sterner 
stuff," looked steadily into the master's face, and when his 
back was turned, shook his fist at him and laughed in defi- 
ance. 

Another teacher, seeing a similar case, did nothing. The 
boys, when they saw him, hastily gathered up their play- 
things and put them away. An hour or two after, a little 
boy, who sat near the master, brought them a note address- 
ed to them both. They opened it, and read as follows : 

" To Edward and John, — I observed, when I passed you to-day, from 
your concerned looks, and your hurried manner of puUing something 
into your desk, that you were doing something that you knew was 
wrong. When you attempt to do any tiling whatever which con- 
science tells you is wrong, you only make yourself uneasy and anxious 
while you do it, and then you are forced to resort to concealment and 
deception when you see me coming. You would be a great deal hap- 
pier if you would always be doing your duty, and then you would nev- 
er be afraid. Your affectionate teacher, ." 



304 THE TEACHER. 

As the teacher was arranging his papers in his desk at the 
close of school, he found a small piece of paper neatly folded 
up in the form of a note, and addressed to him. He read as 
follows : 

" Dear Teacher, — We are very much obliged to you for writing us 
a note. We were making a paper box. We know it was wrong, and 
are determined not to do so any more. We hope you will forgive us. 
" Your pupils, Edward, 

John." 

Which of these teachers understood human nature best? 

13. Weekly Kepokts. — The plan described by the follow- 
ing article, which was furnished by a teacher for insertion 
here, was originally adopted, so far as I know, in a school on 
the Kennebec. I have adopted it with great advantage. 

A teacher had one day been speaking to her scholars of 
certain cases of slight disorder in the school, which, she re- 
marked, had been gradually creeping in, and which, as she 
thought, it devolved upon the scholars, by systematic efforts, 
to repress. She enumerated instances of disorder in the ar- 
rangement of the rooms, leaving the benches out of their 
places, throwing waste papers upon the floor, having the 
desk in disorder inside, spilling water upon the entry floor, 
irregular deportment, such as too loud talking or laughing 
in recess, or in the intermission at noon, or when coming to 
school, and making unnecessary noise in going to or return- 
ing from recitations. 

"I have a plan to propose," said the teacher, "which I 
think may be the pleasantest way of promoting a reform in 
things of this kind. It is this. Let several of your number 
be chosen a committee to prepare statedly — perhaps as often 
as once a week — a written report of the state of the school. 
The report might be read before the school at the close of 
each week. The committee might consist, in the whole, of 



KEPORT8 OF CASES. '603 

seven or eight, or even of eleven or twelve individuals, who 
should take the whole business into their hands. This com- 
mittee might appoint individuals of their number to write 
in turn each week. By this arrangement, it would not be 
known to the school generally who are the writers of any 
particular report, if the individuals wish to be anonymous. 
Two individuals might be appointed at the beginning of the 
week, who should feel it their business to observe particularly 
the course of things from day to day with reference to the re- 
port. Individuals not members of the committee can render 
assistance by any suggestions they may present to this com- 
mittee. These should, however, generally be made in writing. 

" Subjects for such a report will be found to suggest them- 
selves very abundantly, though you may not perhaps think 
so at first. The committee may be empowered not only to 
state the particulars in which things are going wrong, but 
the methods by which they may be made right. Let them 
present us with any suggestions they please. If we do not 
like them, we are not obliged to adopt them. For instance, 
it is generally the case, whenever a recitation is attended in 
the corner yonder, that an end of one of the benches is put 
against the door, so as to occasion a serious interruption to 
the exercises when a person wishes to come in or go out. It 
Avould come within the province of the committee to attend 
to such a case as this, that is, to bring it up in the report. 
The remedy in such a case is a very simple one. Suppose, 
however, that instead of the sim2)le remedy, our committee 
should propose that the classes reciting in the said corner 
should be dissolved and the studies abolished? We should 
know the proposal was an absurd one, but then it would do 
no hurt ; we should have only to reject it. 

" Again, besides our faults, let our committee notice the 
respects in which we are doing particularly well, that we may 
be encouraged to go on doing well, or even to do better. If 
they think, for example, that we are deserving of credit for 



306 TJIE TKACHEK. 

the neatness with which books are kept — for their freedom 
from blots, or scribbhngs, or dog's-ears, by which school-books 
are so commonly defaced, let them tell us so. And the same 
of any other excellence." 

With the plan as thus presented, the scholars were very 
much pleased. It was proposed by one individual that such 
a committee should be appointed immediately, and a report 
prepared for the ensuing week. This was done. The com- 
mittee were chosen by ballot. The following may be taken 
as a specimen of their reports : 

Weekly Report. 

" The Committee appointed to write the weekly report have noticed 
several things which they think wrong. In the first place, there have 
been a greater number of tardy scholars during the past week than 
usual. Much of this tardiness, we suppose, is owing to the interest felt 
in building the bower ; but we think this business ought to be attend- 
ed to only in play-hours. If only one or two come in late when we are 
reading in the morning, or after we have composed ourselves to study 
at the close of the recess, every scholar must look up from her book — 
we do not say they ought to do so, but only that they will do so. How- 
ever, we anticipate an improvement in this respect, as we know ' a word 
to the wise is sufficient.' 

" In the two back rows we are sorry to say that we have noticed whis- 
pering. We know that this fact will very much distress our teacher, 
as she expects assistance, and not trouble, from our older scholars. It 
is not our business to reprove any one's misconduct, but it is our duty 
to mention it, however disagreeable it may be. We think the younger 
scholars, during the past week, have much improved in this respect. 
Only three cases of whispering among them have occurred, to our 
knowledge. 

*' We remember some remarks made a few weeks ago by our teach- 
er on the practice of prompting each other in the classes. We wish 
she would repeat them, for we fear that, by some, they are forgotten. 
In the class in Geography, particularly in the questions on the map, we 
have noticed sly whispers, which, we suppose, were the hints of some 
kind friend designed to refresh the memory of her less attentive com- 
panion. We propose that the following question be now put to vote. 
Shall the practice of prompting in the classes be any longer continued 1 



REPORTS OF CASES. 307 

" We would propose that we have a composition exercise this week 
similar to the one on Thursday last. It was very interesting, and we 
think all would be willing to try their thinking powers once more. We 
would propose, also, that the readers of the compositions should sit near 
the centre of the room, as last week many fine sentences escaped the 
cars of those seated in the remote corners. 

" We were requested by a very public-spirited individual to mention 
once more the want of three nails, for bonnets, in the entry. Also, to 
say that the air from the broken pane of glass on the east side of the 
room is very unpleasant to those who sit near. 

" Proposed that the girls who exhibited so much taste and ingenuity 
in the arrangement of the festoons of evergreen, and tumblers of flowers 
around the teacher's desk, be now requested to remove the faded roses 
and drooping violets. We have gazed on these sad emblems long 
enough. 

" Finally, proposed that greater care be taken by those who stay at 
noon to place their dinner-baskets in proper places. The contents of 
more than one were partly strewed upon the entry floor this morning." 

If sucli a measure as this is adopted, it should not be con- 
tinued uninterrupted for a very long time. Every thing of 
this sort should be occasionally changed, or it sooner or later 
becomes only a form. 

14. The Shopping Exercise. — I have often, when going 
a shopping, found difficulty and trouble in making change. 
I could never calculate very readily, and in the hurry and 
perplexity of the moment I was always making mistakes. I 
have heard others often make the same complaint, and I re- 
solved to try the experiment of regularly teaching children to 
make change. I had a bright little class in Arithmetic, the 
members of which were always ready to engage with inter- 
est in any thing new, and to them I proposed my plan. It 
was to be called the Shopping Exercise. I first requested 
each individual to write something upon her slate which she 
would like to buy, if she was going a shopping, stating the 
quantity she wished and the price of it. To make the first 
lesson as simple as possible, I requested no one to go above 



308 TFiE TEACHER. 

ten, either in the quantity or price. When all were ready, 
I called upon some to read what she had written. Her next 
neighbor was then requested to tell us how much the pur- 
chase would amount to. Then the first one named a bill, 
which she supposed to be offered in payment, and the second 
showed what change was needed. A short specimen of the 
exercise will probably make it clearer than mere description. 

Mary. Eight ounces of candy at seven cents. 
Susan. Fifty-six cents. 
Mary. One dollar. 
Sicsan. Forty-four cents. 

Susan. Nine yards of lace at eight cents. 

Anna. Seventy-two cents. 

Susan. Two dollars. 

Anna. One dollar and twenty-eight cents. 

Anna. Three pieces of tape at five cents. 

Jane. Fifteen cents. 

Anna. Three dollars. 

Jane. Eighty-five cents. 

Several voices. "Wrong. 

Jane. Two dollars and eighty-five cents. 

Jane. Six pictures at eight cents, 
Sarah. Forty-two cents. 
Several voices. Wrong. 
Sarah. Forty-eight cents. 
Jane. One dollar. 
Sarah. Sixty-two cents. 
Several voices. Wrong. 
Sarah. Fifty-two cents. 

It will be perceived that the same individual who names 
the article and the price names also the bill which she would 
give in payment ; and the one who sits next her, who calcu- 
lated the amount, calculated also the change to be returned. 
She then proposed hc?^ example to the one next in the line, 
with whom the same course was pursued, and tlius it passed 
down the class. 



REPOKTS OF (JASEy. oU'J 

The exercise went on for some time in this way, till the 
pupils had become so familiar with it that I thought it best 
to allow them to take higher numbers. They were always 
interested in it, and made great improvement in a short time, 
and I myself derived great advantage from listening to them. 

There is one more circumstance I will add which may 
contribute to the interest of this account. AVhile the class 
were confined, in what they purchased, to the number ten, 
they were sometimes inclined to turn the exercise into a frol- 
ic. The variety of articles which they could find costing less 
than ten cents was so small, that, for the sake of getting 
something new, they would propose examples really ludi- 
crous, such as these : three meeting-houses at two cents ; 
four pianos at nine cents. But I soon found that if I allow- 
ed this at all, their attention was diverted from the main ob- 
ject, and occupied in seeking the most diverting and curious 
examples. 

15. Artifices in Kecitations. — The teacher of a small 
newly-established school had all of his scholars classed to- 
gether in some of their studies. At recitations he usually 
sat in the middle of the room, while the scholars occupied 
the usual places at their desks, which were arranged around 
the sides. In the recitation in Ehetoric, the teacher, after a 
time, observed that one or two of the class seldom answered 
appropriately the c^uestions which came to them, but yet 
were always ready with some kind of answer — generally an 
exact quotation of the words of the book. Upon noticing 
these individuals more particularly, he was convinced that 
their books were open before them in some concealed situa- 
tion. Another practice not uncommon in the class was that 
of prompting each other, either by whispers or writing. The 
teacher took no notice publicly of these practices for some 
time, until, at the close of an uncommonly good recitation, he 
remarked, " T think we have had a fine rocitation to-day. 



310 THE TEACHER. 

It is one of the most agreeable things that I ever do to hear 
a lesson that is learned as well as this. Do you think it 
would be possible for us to have as good an exercise every 
day ?" " Yes, sir," answered several, faintly. " Do you 
think it would be reasonable for me to expect of every mem- 
ber of the class that she should always be able to recite all 
her lessons without ever missing a single question?" "No, 
sir," answered all. " I do not expect it," said the teacher. 
" All I wish is that each of you should be faithful in your 
efforts to prepare your lessons. I wish you to study from a 
sense of duty, and for the sake of your own improvement. 
You know I do not punish you for failures. I have no going 
up or down, no system of marking. Your only reward, when 
you have made faithful preparation for a recitation, is the 
feeling of satisfaction which you will always experience ; and 
when you have been negligent, your only punishment is a sort 
of uneasy feeling of self-reproach. I do not expect you all to 
be invariably prepared with every question of your lessons. 
Sometimes you will be unavoidably prevented from studying 
them, and at other times, when you have studied them very 
carefully, you may have forgotten, or you may fail from some 
misapprehension of the meaning in some cases. Do not, in 
such a case, feel troubled because you may not have ap- 
peared as well as some individual wdio has not been half as 
faithful as yourself. If you have done your duty, that is 
enough. On the other hand, you ought to feel no better sat- 
isfied Avith yourselves wdien your lesson has not been studied 
well, because you may have happened to know the parts 
which came to you. Have I done well ? should always be 
the question, not, Have I managed to appear well ? 

"I will say a word here," continued the teacher, "upon 
a practice which I have known to be very common in some 
schools, and which I have been sorry to notice occasionally 
in this. I mean that of promptingj or helping each other 
along in some way at recitations. Now where a severe pun- 



REPORTS OF CASES. 311 

ishment is the consequence of a failure, there might seem to 
be some reasonableness in helping your companions out of 
difficulty, though even then such tricks are departures from 
honorable dealing. But, especially where there is no purpose 
to be served but that of appearing to know more than you 
do, it certainly must be considered a very mean kind of arti- 
fice. I think I have sometimes observed an individual to be 
prompted where evidently the assistance was not desired, and 
even where it was not needed. To whisper to an individual 
the answer to a question is sometimes to pay her rather a 
poor compliment at least, for it is the same as saying ' I am 
a better scholar than you are ; let me help you along a little.' 
" Let us then, hereafter, have only fair, open, honest deal- 
ings with each other ; no attempts to appear to advantage by 
little artful manoeuvring ; no prompting ; no peeping into 
books. Be faithful and conscientious, and then banish anx- 
iety for your success. Do you not think you will find this 
the best course f " Yes, sir," answered every scholar. "Are 
you willing to pledge yourselves to adopt if?" "Yes, sir." 
"Those who are may raise their hands," said the teacher. 
Every hand was raised ; and the pledge, there was evidence 
to believe, was honorably sustained. 

16. Keeping Resolutions. — The following are notes of a 
familiar lecture on this subject, given by a teacher at some 
general exercise in the school. The practice of thus reducing 
to writing what the teacher may say on such subjects will be 
attended with excellent effects. 

This is a subject upon which young persons find much dilRculty. 
The question is asked a thousand times, " How shall I ever learn to keep 
my resolutions!" Perhaps the great cause of your failures is this. You 
are not sufficiently definite in forming your purposes. You will resolve 
to do a thing, without knowing with certainty whether it is even possi- 
ble to do it. Again, you make resolutions which are to run on indefi- 
nitely, so that, of course, they can never be fully kept. For instance, 
one of you will resolve to rise earlier in the morning. You fix upon no 



312 THE TEACHEK. 

definite hour, on any definite number of mornings, only you are going 
to " rise earlier.'''' Morning comes, and finds you sleepy and disinclined 
to rise. You remember your resolution of rising earlier. " But iTien 
it is very early," you say. You resolved to rise earlier, but you didn't 
resolve to rise just then. And this, it may be, is the last of your reso- 
lution. Or perhaps you are, for a few mornings, a little earlier ; but 
then, at the end of a week or fortnight, you do not know exactly whether 
your resolution has been broken or kept, for you had not decided whether 
to rise earlier for ten days or for ten years. 

In the same vague and general manner, a person will resolve to be 
7nore studious or more diligent. In the case of an individual of a ma- 
ture and well-disciplined mind, of acquired firmness of character, such a 
resolution might have efl!ect. The individual will really devote more 
time and attention to his pursuits. But for one of you to make such a 
resolution would do no sort of good. It would only be a source of 
trouble and disquiet. You perceive there is nothing definite — nothing 
fixed about it. You have not decided what amount of additional time 
or attention to give to your studies, or when you will begin, or when 
you will end. There is no one time when you will feel that you are 
breaking your resolution, because there were no particular times when 
you were to study more. You waste one opportunity and another, and 
then, with a feeling of discouragement and self-reproach, conclude to 
abandon your resolution. " Oh ! it does no good to make resolutions,"' 
you say ; " I never shall keep them." 

Now, if you would have the business of making resolutions a pleas- 
ant and interesting instead of a discouraging, disquieting one, you must 
proceed in a different manner. Be definite and distinct in your plan ; 
decide exactly what you will do, and how you will do it — when you will 
begin, and when you will end. Instead of resolving to " rise earlier," 
resolve to rise at the ringing of the sunrise bells, or at some other defi- 
nite time. Resolve to try this, as an experiment, for one morning, or 
for one week, or fortnight. Decide positivelj'^, if you decide at all, and 
then rise when the time comes, sleepy or not sleepy. Do not stop to 
repent of your resolution, or to consider the wisdom or folly of it, when 
the time for acting under it has once arrived. 

In all cases, little and great, make this a principle — to consider well 
before you begin to act, but after you have begun to act, never stop to 
consider. Resolve as deliberately as you please, but be sure to keep 
your resolution, whether a wise one or an unwise one, after it is once 
made. Never allow yourself to reconsider the question of getting up, 
after the morning has come, except it be for some'unforeseen circum- 



REPOETS OF CASES. 313 

stance. Get up for that time, and be more careful how you make reso- 
lutions again. 

17. Topics. — The plan of the Topic Exercise, as we call- 
ed it, is this. Six or seven topics are given out, information 
upon which is to be obtained from any source, and commu- 
nicated verbally before the whole school, or sometimes before 
a class formed for this purpose the next day. The subjects 
are proposed both by teacher and scholars, and if approved, 
adopted. The exercise is intended to be voluntary, but ought 
to be managed in a way sufficiently interesting to induce all 
to join. 

At the commencement of the exercise the teacher calls 
upon all who have any information in regard to the topic as- 
signed — suppose, for example, it is Alabaster — to rise. Per- 
haps twenty individuals out of forty rise. The teacher may 
perhaps say to those in their seats, 

'' Do you not know any thing of this subject '? Have you 
neither seen nor heard of alabaster, and had no means of as- 
certaining any thing in regard to it? If you have, you ought 
to rise. It is not necessary that you should state a fact alto- 
gether new and unheard-of, but if you tell me its color, or 
some of the uses to which it is appKed, you will be comply- 
ing with my request." 

After these remarks, perhaps a few more rise, and possi- 
bly the whole school. Individuals are then called upon at 
random, each to state only one particular in regard to the 
topic in question. This arrangement is made so as to give 
all an opportunity to speak. If any scholar, after having 
mentioned one fact, has something still farther to communi- 
cate, she remains standing till called upon again. As soon 
as an individual has exhausted her stock of information, or 
if the facts that she intended to mention are stated by an- 
other, she takes her seat. 

The topics at first most usually selected are the common 
objects by which we are surrounded — for example, glass, iron, 
. O 



ol4 THE TEACllEK. 

mahogany, and the Uke. The list will gradually extend it- 
self, until it will embrace a large number of subjects. 

The object of this exercise is to induce pupils to seek for 
general information in an easy and pleasant manner, as by 
the perusal of books, newspapers, periodicals, and conversa- 
tion with friends. It induces care and attention in reading, 
and discrimination in selecting the most useful and impor- 
tant facts from the mass of information. As individuals are 
called upon, also, to express their ideas verbally, they soon ac- 
quire by practice the power of expressing them with clear- 
ness and force, and communicating with ease and confidence 
the knowledge they possess. 

18. Music. — The girls of our school often amused them- 
selves in recess by collecting into little groups for singing. 
As there seemed to be a sufficient power of voice, and a re- 
spectable number who were willing to join in the perform- 
ance, it was proposed one day that singing should be intro- 
duced as a part of the devotional exercises of the school. 

The first attempt nearly resulted in a failure ; only a few 
trembling voices succeeded in singing Old Hundred to the 
words "Be thou," etc. On the second day Peterborough 
was sung with much greater confidence on the part of the 
increased number of singers. The experiment was tried with 
greater and greater success for several days, when the teacher 
proposed that a systematic plan should be formed, by which 
there might be singing regularly at the close of school. It 
was then proposed that a number of singing-books be obtain- 
ed, and one of the scholars, who was well acquainted with 
common tunes, be appointed as chorister. Her duty should 
be to decide what particular tune may be sung each day, in- 
form the teacher of the metre of the hymn, and take the lead 
in the exercise. This plan, being approved of by the schol- 
ars, was adopted, and put into immediate execution. Sever- 
al brouglit copies of the Sabbath School Hymn-Book, whicli 



liEroUTS OF CASES. 315 

they had in their possession, and the pUm succeeded beyond 
all expectation. The greatest difficulty in the way was to get 
some one to lead. The chorister, however, was somewhat 
relieved from the embarrassment which she would naturally 
feel in making a beginning by the appointment of one or two 
individuals with herself, who were to act as her assistants. 
These constituted the leading committee, or, as it was after- 
ward termed, Singing Committee. 

Singing now became a regular and interesting exercise of 
the school, and the committee succeeded in managing the 
business themselves. 

19. Tabu. — An article was one day read in a school re- 
lating to the " Tabu" of the Sandwich Islanders. Tabu is a 
term with them which signifies consecrated — not to be touch- 
ed — to be let alone — not to be violated. Thus, according to 
their religious observances, a certain day will be proclaimed 
Tabu ; that is, one upon which there is to be no work or no 
going out. 

A few days after this article was read, the scholars observed 
one morning a flower stuck up in a conspicuous place against 
the wall, with the word Tabu in large characters above it. 
This excited considerable curiosity. The teacher informed 
them, in explanation, that the flower was a very rare and 
beautiful specimen, brought by one of the scholars, which he 
wished all to examine. "You would naturally feel a dis- 
position to examine it by the touch," said he, " but you will 
all see that, by the time it was touched by sixty individuals, 
it would be likely to be injured, if not destroyed. So I con- 
cluded to label it Tahu. And it has occurred to me that 
this will be a convenient mode of apprising you generally 
that any article must not be handled. You know we some- 
times have some apparatus exposed, which would be liable 
to injury from disturbance, where there are so many persons 
to touch it. I shall, in such a case, just mention that an 



316 THE TEACHER. 

article is Tabu, and you will understand that it is not only 
not to be injured, but not even touched J^ 

A little delicate management of this sort will often have 
more influence over young persons than the most vehement 
scolding, or the most watchful and jealous precautions. The 
Tabu was always most scrupulously regarded, after this, 
whenever employed. 

20. Mental Analysis. — Scene, a class in Arithmetic at 
recitation. The teacher gives them an example in addition, 
requesting them, when they have performed it, to rise. Some 
finish it very soon, others are very slow in accomplishing the 
work. 

" I should like to ascertain," says the teacher, " how great 
is the difference of rapidity with which different members of 
the class work in addition. I will give you another exam- 
ple, and then notice by my watch the shortest and longest 
time required to do it." 

The result of the experiment was that some members of 
the class were two or three times as long in doing it as 
others. 

" Perhaps you think," said the teacher, " that this differ- 
ence is altogether owing to difference of skill ; but it is not. 
It is mainly owing to the different methods adopted by vari- 
ous individuals. I am going to describe some of these, and, 
as I describe them, I wish you would notice them carefully, 
and tell me which you practice. 

" There are, then, three modes of adding up a column of 
figures, which I shall describe. 

1. "I shall call the first counting. You take the first fig- 
ure, and then add the next to it by counting up regularly. 
There are three distinct ways of doing this. 

(a.) " Counting by your fingers." (" Yes, sir.") " You 
take the first figure — suppose it is seven — and the one above 
it, eight. Now you recollect that to add eight, you must 



KEPOKTS OF CASES. 317 

count all the fingers of one hand, and all but two again. So 
jou say ' seven — eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, 
fourteen, fifteen.' " 

" Yes, sir, yes, sir," said the scholars. 

(b.) " The next mode of counting is to do it mentally, 
without using your fingers at all ; but, as it is necessary for 
you to have some plan to secure your adding the right num- 
ber, you divide the units into sets of two, each. Thus you 
remember that eight consists of four twos, and you accord- 
ingly say, when adding eight to seven, ' Seven ; eight, nine ; 
ten, eleven ; twelve, thirteen,' &c. 

(c.) " The third mode is to add by threes in the same way. 
You recollect that eight consists of two threes and a two ; so 
you say, ' Seven ; eight, nine, ten ; eleven, twelve, thirteen ; 
fourteen, fifteen.' " 

The teacher here stops to ascertain how many of the class 
are accustomed to add in either of these modes. It is a ma- 
jority. 

2. "The next general method is calculating ; that is, you 
do not unite one number to another by the dull and tedious 
method of applying the units, one by one, as in the ways de- 
scribed under the preceding head, but you come to a result 
more rapidly by some mode of calculating. These modes are 
several. 

(a.) " Doubling a number, and then adding or subtracting, 
as the case may require. For instance, in the example al- 
ready specified, in order to add seven and eight, you say, 
'Twice seven are fourteen, and one are fifteen' " ("Yes, sir, 
yes, sir") ; " or, ' Twice eight are sixteen, and taking one off 
leaves fifteen." (" Yes, sir.") 

(b.) "Another way of calculating is to skip about the col- 
umn, adding those numbers which you can combine most eas- 
ily, and then bringing in the rest as you best can. Thus, if 
you see three eights in one column, you say, ' Three times 
eight are twenty-four,' and then you try to bring in the other 



318 THE TEAciii:i;. 

numbers. Often, in such cases, you forget what you have 
added and what you have not, and get confused (" Yes, sir"), 
or you omit something in your work, and consequently it is 
incorrect. 

(c.) " If nines occur, you sometimes add ten, and then take 
off one, for it is very easy to add ten. 

(d.) " Another method of calculating, which is, however, 
not very common, is this : to take our old case, adding eight 
to seven, you take as much from the eight to add to the sev- 
en as will be sufficient to make ten, and then it will be easy 
to add the rest. Thus you think in a minute that three 
from the eight will make the seven a ten, and then there will 
be five more to add, which will make fifteen. If the next 
number was seven, you would say five of it will make twen- 
ty, and then there will be two left, which will make twenty- 
two.' This mode, though it may seem more intricate than 
any of the others, is, in fact, more rapid than any of them, 
when one is a little accustomed to it. 

" These are the four principal modes of calculating whicli 
occur to me. Pupils do not generally practice any of them 
exclusively, but occasionally resort to each, according to the 
circumstances of the particular case." 

The teacher here stopped to inquire how many of the class 
were accustomed to add by calculating in either of these ways 
or in any simpler w^ays. 

3. " There is one more mode which I shall describe : it is 
by memory. Before I explain this mode, I wish to ask you 
some questions, which I should like to have you answer as 
quick as you can. 

" How much is four times five ? Four and five ? 

" How much is seven times nine? Seven and nine? 

" Eight times six? Eight and six? 

" Nine times seven ? Nine and seven ?" 

After asking a few questions of this kind, it was perceived 
that the pupils could tell much more readily what was the 



HEPOliTS OF CASlb, 319 

result when the numbers were to be multiplied than when 
they were to be added. 

" The reason is," said the teacher, " because you commit- 
ted the multiplication table to memory, and have not com- 
mitted the addition table. Now many persons have commit- 
ted the addition table, so that it is perfectly familiar to them, 
and when they see any two numbers, the amount which is 
produced when they are added together comes to mind in an 
instant. Adding in this way is the last of the three modes 
I was to describe. 

" Now of these three methods the last is undoubtedly the 
best. If you once commit the addition table thoroughly, you 
have it fixed for life ; whereas if you do not, you have to 
make the calculation over again every time, and thus lose a 
vast amount of labor. I have no doubt that there are some 
in this class w^ho are in the habit oi counting, who have as- 
certained that seven and eight, for instance, make fifteen, by 
counting up from seven to fifteen hundreds of times. Now 
how much better it would be to spend a little time in fixing 
the fact in the mind once for all, and then, when you come 
to the case, seven and eight are — say at once * Fifteen,' in- 
stead of mumbling over and over again, hundreds of times, 
' Seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, 
fifteen.' 

" The reason, then, that some of the class add so slowly, 
is not, probably, because they want skill and rapidity of exe- 
cution, but because they work to a great disadvantage by 
working in the wi'ong way. I have often been surprised at 
the dexterity and speed with which some scholars can count 
with their fingers when adding, and yet they could not get 
through the sum very quick — at least they would have done 
it in half the time if the same effort had been made in trav- 
eling on a shorter road. "We will therefore study the addi- 
tion table now. in the class, before we go any farther." 



320 TilK TEACHEK. 

21. Tardiness. — ^When only a few scholars in a school 
are tardy, it may be their fault ; but if a great many are so, 
it is the fault of the teacher or of the school. If a school is 
prosperous, and the children are going on well and happily 
in their studies, they will like their work in it ; but we all 
come reluctantly to work which we are conscious we are not 
successfully performing. 

There may be two boys in a school, both good boys ; one, 
may be going on well in his classes, while the other, from 
the concurrence of some accidental train of circumstances, 
may be behindhand in his work, or wrongly classed, or so 
situated in other respects that his school duties perplex and 
harass him day by day. Now how different will be the feel- 
ings of these two boys in respect to coming to school. The 
one will be eager and prompt to reach his place and com- 
mence his duties, while the other will love much better to 



loiter in idleness and liberty in the open air. Nor is he, un- 
der the circumstances of the case, to blame for this prefer- 
ence. There is no one, old or young, who likes or can like 
to do what he himself and all around him think that he does 
not do well. It is true the teacher can not rely wholly on 
the interest which his scholars take in their studies to make 
them punctnal at school; but if he finds among them any 



REPORTS OF CASES. 321 

very general disposition to be tardy, he ought to seek for the 
fault mainly in himself and not in them. 

The foregoing narratives and examples, it is hoped, may 
induce some of the readers of this book to keep journals of 
their own experiments, and of the incidents which may, from 
time to time, come under their notice, illustrating the prin- 
ciples of education, or simply the characteristics and tenden- 
cies of the youthful mind. The business of teaching will ex- 
cite interest and afford pleasure just in proportion to the de- 
gree in which it is conducted by operations of mind upon 
mind, and the means of making it most fully so are careful 
practice, based upon and regulated by the results of careful 
observation. Every teacher, then, should make observations 
and experiments upon mind a part of his daily duty, and 
nothing will more facilitate this than keeping a record of re- 
sults. There can be no opportunity for studying human na- 
ture more favorable than the teacher enjoys. The materials 
are all before him ; his very business, from day to day, brings 
him to act directly upon them ; and the study of the powers 
and tendencies of the human mind is not only the most inter- 
esting and the noblest that can engage human attention, but 
every step of progress he makes in it imparts an interest and 
charm to what would otherwise be a weary toil. It at once 
relieves his labors, while it doubles their efficiency and success. 

02 



322 



THE TEACHKK. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE teacher's FIRST DAY. 



%-4f^ 




HE teacher enters upon the duties of his office bj a mucli 
more sudden transition than is common in the other avoca- 
tions and employments of life. In ordinary cases, business 
comes at first by slow degrees, and the beginner is intro- 
duced to the labors and responsibilities of his employment in 
a very gradual manner. The young teacher, however, enters 
by a single step into the very midst of his labors. Having, 
perhaps, never even heard a class recite before, he takes a 
short walk some winter morning, and suddenly finds himself 
instated at the desk, his fifty scholars around him, all look- 
ing him in the face, and waiting to be employed. Every 
thing comes upon him at once. He can do nothing until the 
day and the hour for opening the school arrives — then he has 
every thing to do. 

Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that the 
young teacher should look forward with unusual solicitude 
to his first day in school, and he desires, ordinarily, special 
instructions in respect to this occasion. Some such special 
instructions we propose to give in this chapter. The experi- 



THE teacher's first day. 3*2o 

enced teacher may think some of them too minute and triv- 
ial. But he must remember that they are intended for the 
youngest beginner in the humblest school ; and if he recalls 
to mind his own feverish solicitude on the morning when he 
went to take his first command in the district school, he will 
pardon the seeming minuteness of detail. 

1. It will be well for the young teacher to take opportu- 
nity, between the time of his enci^orino; his school and that 
of his commencing it, to acquire as much information in re- 
spect to it beforehand as possible, so as to be somewhat ac- 
quainted with the scene of his labors before entering upon it. 
Ascertain the names and the characters of the principal fam- 
ilies in the district, their ideas and wishes in respect to the 
government of the school, the kind of management adopted 
by one or two of the last teachers, the difficulties they fell 
into, the nature of the complaints made against them, if any, 
and the families with whom difficulty has usually arisen. 
This information must, of course, be obtained in private con- 
versation ; a good deal of it must be, from its very nature, 
highly confidential ; but it is very important that the teach- 
er should be possessed of it. He will necessarily become 
possessed of it by degrees in the course of his administration, 
w^hen, however, it may be too late to be of any service to 
him. But, by judicious and proper efforts to acquire it be- 
forehand, he will enter upon the discharge of his duties with 
gTcat advantage. It is like a navigator's becoming acquaint- 
ed beforehand with the nature and the dangers of the sea 
over which he is about to sail. 

Such inquiries as these will, in ordinary cases, bring to the 
teacher's knowdedge, in most districts in our country, some 
cases of peculiarly troublesome scholars, or unreasonable and 
complaining parents ; and stories of their unjustifiable con- 
duct on former occasions will come to him exaggerated by 
the jealousy of rival neighbors. There is danger that his re- 
sentment mav be roused a little, and that his mind wdll as- 



.'>24 THE TEACIlErv. 

sume a hostile attitude at once toward such individuals, so 
that he will enter upon his work rather with a desire to seek 
a collision with them, or, at least, with secret feelings of de- 
fiance toward them — feelings which will lead to that kind 
of unbending perpendicularity in his demeanor toward them 
which will almost inevitably lead to a collision. Now this 
is wrong. There is, indeed, a point where firm resistance to 
unreasonable demands becomes a duty ; but, as a general 
principle, it is most unquestionably true that it is the teach- 
er's duty to accommodate himself to the character and expecta- 
tions of his employers, not to face and brave them. Those 
italicized words may he understood to mean something which 
would be entirely wrong ; but in the sense in which I mean 
to use them there can be no question that they indicate the 
proper path for one employed by others to do work /or them 
in all cases to pursue. If, therefore, the teacher finds by his 
inquiries into the state of his district that there are some pe- 
culiar difficulties and dangers there, let him not cherish a dis- 
position to face and resist them, but to avoid them. Let him 
go with an intention to soothe rather than to irritate feelings 
which have been wounded before, to comply with the wishes 
of all so far as he can, even if they are not entirely reasona- 
ble, and, while he endeavors to elevate the standard and cor- 
rect the opinions prevailing among his employers by any 
means in his power, to aim at doing it gently, and in a tone 
and manner suitable to the relation he sustains — in a word, 
let him skillfully avoid the dangers of his navigation, not ob- 
stinately run his ship against a rock on purpose on the ground 
that the rock has no business to be there. 

This is the spirit, then, with which these preliminary in- 
quiries in regard to the patrons of the scliool ought to be 
made. We come now to a second point. 

2. It vnW assist the young teacher very much in his first 
day's labors if he takes measures for seeing and conversing 
with some of tlie older or more intelligent scholars on the 



THE teacher's first day. 325 

day or evening before he begins his school, with a view of 
obtaining from them some acquaintance with the internal 
arrangements and customs of the school. The object of this 
is to obtain the same kind of information with respect to the 
interior of the school that was recommended in respect to 
the district under the former head. He may call upon a few 
families, especially those which furnish a large number of 
scholars for the school, and make as many minute inquiries 
of them as he can respecting all the interior arrangements to 
which they have been accustomed, what reading-books and 
other text-books have been used, what are the principal class- 
es in all the several departments of instruction, and what is 
the system of discipline, and of rewards and punishments, to 
which the school has been accustomed. 

If, in such conversations, the teacher should find a few in- 
telligent and communicative scholars, he might learn a great 
deal about the past habits and condition of the school, which 
would be of great service to him. Not, by any means, that 
he will adopt and continue these methods as a matter of 
course, but only that a knowledge of them will render him 
very important aid in marking out his own course. The 
more minute and full the information of this sort is which 
he thus obtains, the better. If practicable, it would be well 
to make out a catalogue of all the principal classes, with the 
names of those individuals belonging to them who will prob- 
ably attend the new school, and the order in which they were 
usually called upon to read or recite. The conversation which 
would be necessary to accomplish this would of itself be of 
great service. It would bring the teacher into an acquaint- 
ance with several important families and groups of children 
under the most favorable circumstances. The parents would 
see and be pleased with the kind of interest they would see 
the teacher taking in his new duties. The children would 
be pleased to be able to render their new instructor some 
service, and would go to the school-room on the next morn- 



o2iJ THE TEACH LJ-J. 

ing with a feeling of acquaintance with him, and a predis- 
position to be pleased. And if by chance any family should 
be thus called upon that had heretofore been captious or com- 
plaining, or disposed to be jealous of the higher importance 
or influence of other families, that spirit would be entirely 
softened and subdued by such an interview with their new 
instructor at their own fireside on the evening preceding the 
commencement of his labors. The great object, however, 
which the teacher would have in view in such inquiries 
should be the value of the information itself. As to the use 
which he will make of it, we shall speak hereafter. 

3. It is desirable that the young teacher should meet his 
scholars first in an unofficial capacity. For this purpose, re- 
pair to the school-room on the first day at an early hour, so 
as to see and become acquainted with the scholars as they 
come in one by one. The intercourse between teacher and 
pupil sliould be like that between parents and children, where 
the utmost freedom is united with the most perfect respect. 
The father who is most firm and decisive in his family gov- 
ernment can mingle most freely in the conversation and 
sports of his children without any derogation of his author- 
ity, or diminution of the respect they owe. Young teachers, 
however, are prone to forget this, and to imagine that they 
must assume an appearance of stern authority always, when 
in the presence of their scholars, if they wish to be respected 
or obeyed. This they call keeping up their dignity. Ac- 
cordingly, they wait, on the morning of their induction into 
office, until their new subjects are all assembled, and then 
walk in with an air of the highest dignity, and with the step 
of a king ; and sometimes a formidable instrument of disci- 
pline is carried in the hand to heighten the impression. Now 
there is no question that it is of great importance that schol- 
ars should have a high idea of the teacher's firmness and in- 
fiexible decision in maintaining his authority and repressing 
all disorder of every kind, but this impression should be ere- 



r I i E T i: AC 1 1 KR s r IR st d a V . O '1 I 

ated by their seeing how he acts in the various emergencies 
which will spontaneously occur, and not by assuming airs of 
importance or dignity, feigned for effect. In other words, 
their respect for him should be based on real traits of charac- 
ter as they see them brought out into natural action, and not 
on appearances assumed for the occasion. 

It seems to me, therefore, that it is best for the teacher first 
to meet his scholars with the air and tone of free and famil- 
iar intercourse, and he will find his opportunity more favor- 
able for doing this if he goes early on the first morning of 
his labors, and converses freely with those whom he finds 
tfiere, and with others as they come in. He may take an in- 
terest with them in all the little arrangements connected with 
the opening of the school — the building of the fire, the paths 
through the snow, the arrangements of seats ; calling upon 
them for information or aid, asking their names, and, in a 
word, entering fully and freely into conversation Avitli them, 
just as a parent, under similar circumstances, would do with 
his children. All the children thus addressed will be pleased 
with the gentleness and affability of the teacher. Even a 
rough and ill-natured boy, who has perhaps come to the 
school with the express determination of attempting to make 
mischief, will be completely disarmed by being asked politely 
to help the teacher arrange the fire, or alter the position of 
his desk. Thus, by means of the half hour during which the 
scholars are coming together, and of the visits made in the 
preceding evening, as described under the last head, the teach- 
er will find, when he calls upon the children to take their 
seats, that he has made a very large number of them his per- 
sonal friends. Many of these will have communicated their 
first impressions to the others, so that he will find himself 
possessed, at the outset, of that which is of vital consequence 
in the opening of any administration — a strong party in his 
favor. 

4. The time for calling the school to order and comnienr- 



328 THE TEACIIEIJ. 

ing exercises of some sort will at length arrive, though if the 
work of making personal acquaintances is going on prosper- 
ously, it may perhaps be delayed a little beyond the "usual 
hour. When, however, the time arrives, we would strongly 
recommend that the first service by which the regular duties 
of the school are commenced should be an act of rehgious 
worship. There are many reasons why the exercises of the 
school should every day be thus commenced, and there are 
special reasons for it on the first day. 

There are very few districts where parents would have any 
objection to this. They might, indeed, in some cases, if the 
subject were to be brought up formally before them as a mat- 
ter of doubt, anticipate some difhculties, or create imaginary 
ones, growing out of the supposed sensitiveness of contending 
sects ; but if the teacher were, of his own accord, to com- 
mence the plain, faithful, and honest discharge of this duty 
as a matter of course, very few would think of making any 
objection to it, and almost all would be satisfied and pleased 
with its actual operation. If, however, the teacher should, 
in any case, have reason to believe that such a practice would 
be contrary to the wishes of liis employers, it woidd, accord- 
ing to views we have presented in another chapter, be wrong 
for him to attempt to introduce it. He might, if he should 
see fit, make such an objection a reason for declining to take 
the school; but he ought not, if he takes it, to act counter to 
the known wishes of his employers in so important a point. 
But if, on the other hand, no such objections are made known 
to him, he need not raise the question himself at all, but take 
it for granted that in a Christian land there will be no objec- 
tion to imploring the Divine protection and blessing at the 
opening of a daily school. 

If this practice is adopted, it will have a most powerful in- 
fluence upon the moral condition of the school. It must be 
so. Though many will be inattentive, and many utterly un- 
concerned, yet it is not possible to bring children, even in 



rilK TEACHICII'S FIRST 1»AV, 329 

form, into the presence of God every day, and to utter in 
their hearing the petitions which they ought to present, with- 
out bringing a powerful element of moral influence to bear 
upon their hearts. The good will be made better ; the con- 
scientious more conscientious still ; and the rude and savage 
will be subdued and softened by the daily attempt to lead 
them to the throne of their Creator. To secure this effect, 
the devotional service must be an honest one. There must 
be nothing feigned or hypocritical ; no hackneyed phrases 
used without meaning, or intonations of assumed solemnity. 
It must be honest, heartfelt, simple prayer ; the plain and di- 
rect expression of such sentiments as children ought to feel, 
and of such petitions as they ought to offer. We shall speak 
presently of the mode of avoiding some abuses to which this 
exercise is liable ; but if these sources of abuse are avoided, 
and the duty is performed in that plain, simple, direct, and 
honest manner in which it certainly will be if it springs from 
the heart, it must have a great influence on the moral prog- 
ress of the children, and, in fact, in all respects on the pros- 
perity of the school. 

But, then, independently of the advantages which may be 
expected to result from the practice of daily prayer m school, 
it would seem to be the imperious duty of the teacher to adopt 
it. So many human minds committed thus to the guidance 
of one, at a period when the character receives so easily and 
so permanently its shape and direction, and in a world of pro- 
bation like this, is an occasion which seems to demand the 
open recognition of the hand of God on the part of any indi- 
vidual to whom such a trust is committed. The duty springs 
so directly out of the attitude in which the teacher and pupil 
stand in respect to each other, and the relation they together 
bear to the Supreme, that it would seem impossible for any 
one to hesitate to admit the duty, without denying altogether 
the existence of a God. 

How vast the responsibility o^ giving form and character to 



330 THE TEACIIEK. 

the Im?nan soul! How mighty the influence of which the un- 
formed minds of a group of chikh-en ai-e susceptible ! How 
much their daily teacher must inevitably exert upon them ! 
If we admit the existence of God at all, and that he exerts 
any «igency whatever in the moral world which he has pro- 
duced, here seems to be one of the strongest cases in whicli 
his intervention should be sought. And then, when we re- 
flect upon the influence which would be exerted upon the fu- 
ture religious character of this nation by having the millions 
of children training up in the schools accustomed, through 
all the years of early life, to being brought daily into the 
presence of the Supreme, with thanksgiving, confession, and 
prayer, it can hardly seem possible that the teacher who 
wishes to be faithful in his duties should hesitate in regard 
to this. Some teacher may perhaps say that he can not per- 
form it because he is not a religious man — he makes no pre- 
tensions to piety. But this can surely be no reason. He 
ought to he a religious man, and his first prayer oflTered in 
school may be the first act by which he becomes so. Enter- 
ing the service of Jehovah is a work whicli requires no pre- 
liminary steps. It is to be done at once by sincere confes- 
sion, and an honest prayer for forgiveness for the past, and 
strength for time to come. A daily religious service in school 
may be, therefore, the outward act by which he, who has long 
lived Mdthout God, may return to his duty. 

If, from such considerations, the teacher purposes to have 
a daily religious service in his school, he should by all means 
begin on the first day, and when he first calls his school to 
order. He should mention to his pupils the great and obvi- 
ous duty of imploring God's guidance and blessing in all their 
ways, and then read a short portion of Scripture, with an 
occasional word or two of simple explanation, and offer, him- 
self, a short and simple prayer. In some cases, teachers are 
disposed to postpone this duty a day or two, from timidity or 
other causes, hoping that, after becoming acquainted a little 



TflE TEACIIF.r's first DAY. 'd'3l 

with the school, and having completed their more important 
arrangements, they shall find it easier to begin. But this is 
a great mistake. The longer the duty is postponed, the more 
difficult and trying it will be. And then the moral impres- 
sions will be altogether more strong and salutary if an act of 
solemn religious worship is made the first opening act of the 
school. 

Where the teacher has not sufficient confidence that the 
general sense of propriety among his pupils will preserve good 
order and decorum during the exercise, it may be better for 
him to ?-ead a prayer selected from books of devotion, or pre- 
pared by himself expressly for the occasion. By this plan 
his school will be, during the exercise, under his own obser- 
vation, as at other times. It may, in some schools where the 
number is small, or the prevailing habits of seriousness and 
order are good, be well to allovr the older scholars to read 
the prayer in rotation, taking especial care that it does not 
degenerate into a mere reading exercise, but that it is under- 
stood, both by readers and hearers, to be a solemn act of re- 
ligious worship. In a word, if the teacher is really honest 
and sincere in his wish to lead his pupils to the worship of 
God, he will find no serious difiiculty in preventing the abuses 
and avoiding the dangers which some might fear, and in ac- 
complishing vast good, both in promoting the prosperity of 
the school, and in the formation of the highest and best traits 
of individual character. 

We have dwelt, perhaps, longer on this subject than we 
ought to have done in this place ; but its importance, when 
viewed in its bearings on the thousands of children daily as- 
sembling in our district schools must be our apology. The 
embarrassments and difficulties arising from the extreme sens- 
itiveness which exists among the various denominations of 
Christians in our land, threaten to interfere veiy seriously 
with giving a proper degree of religious instruction to the 
mass of the youthful population. But we must not. because 



332 THE TEACIIKR. 

we have no national church, cease to have a national religion.' 
All our institutions ought to be so administered as openly to 
recognize the hand of God, and to seek his protection and 
blessing ; and in regard to none is it more imperiously neces- 
sary than in respect to our common schools. 

5. After the school is thus opened, the teacher will find 
himself brought to the great diiticulty which embarrasses the 
beginning of his labors, namely, that of finding immediate 
employment at once for the thirty or forty children who all 
look up to him waiting for their orders. I say thirty or forty, 
for the young teacher's first school will usually be a small 
one. His object should be, in all ordinary cases, for the first 
few days, twofold : first, to revive and restore, in the main, 
the general routine of classes and exercises pursued by his pre- 
decessor in the same school ; and, secondly, while doing this, 
to become as fully acquainted with his scholars as possible. 

It is best, then, ordinarily, for the teacher to begin the 
school as his predecessor closed it, and make the transition to 
his own perhaps more improved method a gradual one. In 
some cases a different course is wise undoubtedly, as, for ex- 
ample, where a teacher is commencing a private school, on a 
previously well-digested plan of his own, or where one who 
has had experience, and has confidence in his power to bring 
his new pupils promptly and at once into the system of class- 
ification and instruction which he prefers. It is difficult, 
however, to do this, and requires a good deal of address and 
decision. It is far easier and safer, and in almost all cases 
better, in every respect, for a young teacher to revive and re- 
store the former arrangements in the main, and take his de- 
parture from them. He may afterward make changes, as he 
may find them necessary or desirable, and even bring the 
school soon into a very different state from that in which he 
finds it ; but it will generally be more pleasant for himself, 
and better for the school, to avoid tlie shock of a sudden and 
entire revolution. 



TIJE teacher's first DAY. 333 

The first thing, then, when the scholars ai'e ready to be em- 
ployed, is to set them at work in classes or upon lessons, as 
they would have been employed had the former teacher con- 
tinued in charge of the school. To illustrate clearly how 
this may be done, we may give the following dialogue : 

Teacher. Can any one of the boys inform me what was the 
first lesson that the former master used to hear in the morn- 
ing ? 

The boys are silent, looking to one another. 

Teacher. Did he hear any recitation immediately after school 
began ? 

Boys (faintly, and with hesitation). No, sir. 

Teacher. How long was it before he began to hear lessons ? 

Several boys simultaneously. "About half an hour." "A 
little while." " Quarter of an hour." 

" What did he do at this time f ' 

" Set copies," "Looked over sums," and various other an- 
swers are perhaps given. 

The teacher makes a memorandum of this, and then in- 
quires, 

" And what lesson came after this f 

" Geography." 

" All the boys in this* school who studied Geography may 
rise." 

A considerable number rise. 

"Did you all recite together 1" 

"No, sir." 

" There are two classes, then *?" 

"Yes, sir." "Yes, sir." "More than two." 

" All who belong to the class that recites first in the morn- 
ing may remain standing ; the rest may sit." 

The boys obey, and eight or ten of them remain standing. 
The teacher calls upon one of them to produce his book, and 
assigns them a lesson in regular course. He then requests 
some one of the number to write out, in the course of the day. 



o34 THE TEACHEIJ. 

a list of the class, and to bring it with him to the recitation 
the next morning. 

'' Are there any other scholars in the school who think it 
would be well for them to join this class f 

In answer to this question probably some new scholars 
might rise, or some hitherto belonging to other classes, who 
might be of suitable age and qualifications to be transferred. 
If these individuals should appear to be of the proper stand- 
ing and character, they might at once be joined to the class 
in question, and directed to take the same lesson. 

In the same manner, the other classes would pass in review 
before the teacher, and he would obtain a memorandum of 
the usual order of exercises, and in a short time set all his 
pupils at work preparing for the lessons of the next day. He 
would be much aided in this by the previous knowledge which 
he would have obtained by private conversation, as recom- 
mended under a former head. Some individual cases would 
require a little special attention, such as new scholars, small 
children, and others ; but he would be able, before a great 
while, to look around him and see his whole school busy with 
the work he had assigned them, and his own time, for the 
rest of the morning, in a great degree at his own command. 

I ought to say, however, that it is not probable that he 
would long continue these arrangements unaltered. In hear- 
ing the different classes recite, he would watch for oj:)portu- 
nities for combining them, or discontinuing those where the 
number was small ; he would alter the times of recitation, 
and gi'oup individual scholars into classes, so as to bring the 
school, in a very short time, into a condition corresponding 
more nearly with his own views. All this can be done very 
easily and pleasantly when the wheels are once in motion ; 
for a school is like a ship in one respect — most easily steered 
in the right direction when under sail. 

By this plan, also, the teacher obtains what is almost ab- 
solutely necessary at the commencement of his labors, time 



THE TEACllEKb FIKST DAY. '6oo 

for observation. It is of the first importance tliat lie should 
become acquainted, as early as possible, with the characters 
of the boys, especially to learn Avho those are which are most 
likely to be troublesome. There always will be a few who 
will require special watch and care, and generally there will 
be only a few. A great deal depends on finding these indi- 
viduals out in good season, and bringing the pressure of a 
proper authority to bear upon them soon. By the plan I 
have recommended of not attempting to remodel the school 
wholly at once, the teacher obtains time for noticing the pu- 
23ils, and learning something about their individual charac- 
ters. In fact, so important is this, that it is the plan of 
some teachers, whenever they commence a new school, to let 
the boys have their own way, almost entirely, for a few days, 
in order to find out fully who the idle and mischievous are. 
This is, perhaps, going a little too far ; but it is certainly de- 
sirable to enjoy as many opportunities for observation as can 
be secured on the first few days of the school. 

6. Make it, then, a special object of attention, during the 
first day or two, to discover who the idle and mischievous in- 
dividuals are. They will have generally seated themselves 
together in little knots ; for, as they are aware that the new 
teacher does not know tliem, they will imagine that, though 
perhaps separated before, they can now slip together again 
without any trouble. It is best to avoid, if possible, an open 
collision with any of them at once, in order that they may be 
the better observed. Whenever, therefore, you see idleness 
or play, endeavor to remedy the evil for the time by giving 
the individual something special to do, or by some other 
measure, without, however, seeming to notice the misconduct. 
Continue thus adroitly to stop eveiT" thing disorderly, while, 
at the same time, you notice and remember where the tend- 
encies to disorder exist. 

By this means, the individuals who would cause most of 
the trouble and difficulty in the discipline of the school will 



336 THE TEACHER. 

soon betray themselves, and those whose fidelity and good 
behavior can be relied upon will also be known. The names 
of the former should be among the first that the teacher 
learns, and their characters should be among the first which 
he studies. The most prominent among them — those ap- 
parently most likely to make trouble — he should note par- 
ticularly, and make inquiries out of school respecting them, 
their characters, and their education at home, so as to be- 
come acquainted with them as early and as fully as possible, 
for he must have this full acquaintance with them before he 
is prepared to commence any decided course of discipline with 
them. The teacher often does irreparable injury by rash ac- 
tion at the outset. He sees, for instance, a boy secretly eat- 
ing an apple which he has concealed in his hand, and which 
he bites with his book before his mouth, or his head under 
the lid of his desk. It is perhaps the first day of the school, 
and the teacher thinks he had better make an example at 
the outset, and calls the boy out, knowing nothing about his 
general character, and inflicts some painful or degrading pun- 
ishment before all the school. A little afterward, as he be- 
comes gradually acquainted with the boy, he finds that he is 
of mild, gentle disposition, generally obedient and harmless, 
and that his offense was only an act of momentary thought- 
lessness, arising from some circumstances of peculiar tempta- 
tion at the time ; a boy in the next seat, perhaps, had just 
before given him the apple. The teacher regrets, when too 
late, the hasty punishment. He perceives that instead of 
having the influence of salutary example upon the other boys, 
it must have shocked their sense of justice, and excited dis- 
like toward a teacher so quick and severe, rather than of fear 
of doing wrong themselves. It would be safer to postpone 
such decided measures a little — to avoid all open collisions, if 
possible, for a few days. In such a case as the above, the 
boy might be kindly spoken to in an under tone, in such a 
way as to show both the teacher's sense of the impropriety 



THE TEACUEK S FIRST DAY. ^33 7 

of disorder, and also his desire to avoid giving pain to the 
boy. If it then turns out that the individual is ordinarily a 
well-disposed boy, all is right, and if he proves to be habitu- 
ally disobedient and troublesome, the lenity and forbearance 
exercised at first will facilitate the effect aimed at by subse- 
quent measures. Avoid, then, for the few first days, all open 
collision with any of your pupils, that you may have oppor- 
tunity for minute and thorough observation. 

And here the young teacher ought to be cautioned against 
a fault which beginners are very prone to fall into, that of 
forming unfavorable opinions of some of their pupils from 
their air and manner before they see any thing in their con- 
duct which ought to be disapproved. A boy or girl comes 
to the desk to ask a question or make a request, and the 
teacher sees in the cast of countenance, or in the bearing or 
tone of the individual, something indicating a proud, or a 
sullen, or an ill-humored disposition, and conceives a preju- 
dice, often entirely without foundation, which weeks perhaps 
do not wear away. Every experienced teacher can recollect 
numerous cases of this sort, and he learns, after a time, to 
suspend his judgment. Be cautious, therefore, on this point, 
and in the survey of your pupils which you make during the 
first few days of your school, trust to nothing but the most 
sure and unequivocal evidences of character, for many of your 
most docile and faithful pupils will be found among those 
whose appearance at first prepossessed you strongly against 
them. 

One other caution ought also to be given. Do not judge 
too severely in respect to the ordinary cases of misconduct in 
school. The young teacher almost invariably does j udge too 
severely. While engaged himself in hearing a recitation, or 
looking over a "sum," he hears a stifled laugh, and, looking 
up, sees the little offender struggling with the muscles of his 
countenance to restore their gravity. The teacher is vexed 
at the interruption, and severely rebukes or punishes the boy, 

■p 



338 THE TEACHER. 

when, after all, the offense, in a moral point of view, was an 
exceedingly light one — at least it might very probably have 
been so. In fact, a large proportion of the oifenses against 
order committed in school are the mere momentary action of 
the natural buoyancy and life of childhood. This is no rea- 
son why they should be indulged, or why the order and reg- 
ularity of the school should be sacrificed, but it should pre- 
vent their exciting feelings of anger or impatience, or very 
severe reprehension. While the teacher should take effect- 
ual measures for restraining all such irregularities, he should 
do it with the tone and manner which will show that he un- 
derstands their true moral character, and deals with them, 
not as heinous sins, which deserve severe punishment, but as 
serious inconveniences, which he is compelled to repress. 

There are often cases of real moral turpitude in school, 
such as where there is intentional, willful mischief, or dis- 
turbance, or habitual disobedience, and there may even be, 
in some cases, open rebellion. Now the teacher should show 
that he distinguishes these cases from such momentary acts 
of thoughtlessness as we have described, and a broad distinc- 
tion ought to be made in the treatment of them. In a word, 
theil, what we have been recommending under this head is, 
that the teacher should make it his special study, for his first 
few days in school, to acquire a knowledge of the characters 
of his pupils, to learn who are the thoughtless ones, who the 
mischievous, and who the disobedient and rebellious, and to 
do this with candid, moral discrimination, and with as little 
open collision with individuals as possible. 

7. Another point to which the teacher ought to give his 
early attention is to separate the bad boys as soon as he can 
from one another. The idleness and irregularity of children 
in school often depends more on accidental circumstances 
than on character. Two boys may be individually harmless 
and well-disposed, and yet they may be of so mercurial a 
temperament that, together, the temptation to continual play 



TUE teacher's FIKST I>AY. 339 

will be irresistible. Another case that more often happens is 
where one is actively and even intentionally bad, and is seat- 
ed next to an innocent, but perhaps thoughtless boy, and con- 
trives to keep him always in difficulty. Now remove the 
former away, where there are no very frail materials for him 
to act upon, and place the latter where he is exposed to no 
special temptation, and all would be well. 

This is all very obvious, and known familiarly to all teach- 
ers who have had any experience. But beginners are not 
generally so aware of it at the outset as to make any direct 
and systematic efforts to examine the school with reference 
to its condition in this respect. It is usual to go on, leaving 
the boys to remain seated as chance or their own inclinations 
grouped them, and to endeavor to keep the peace among the 
various neighborhoods by close supervision, rebukes, and pun- 
ishment. Now these difficulties may be very much dimin- 
ished by looking a little into the arrangement of the boys at 
the outset, and so modifying it as to diminish tlie amount of 
temptation to which the individuals are exposed. 

This should be done, however, cautiously, deliberately, and 
with good-nature, keeping the object of it a good deal out of 
view. It must be done cautiously and deliberately, for the 
first appearances are exceedingly fallacious in respect to the 
characters of the different children. You see, perhaps, some 
indications of play between two boys upon the same seat, and 
hastily conclude that they are disorderly boys, and must be 
separated. Something in the air and manner of one or both 
of them confirms this impression, and you take the necessary 
measures at once. You then find, when you become more 
fully acquainted with them, that the appearances which you 
observed were only momentary and accidental, and that they 
would have been as safe together as any two boys in the 
school. And perhaps you will even find that, by their new 
position, you have brought one or the other into circum- 
stances of peculiar temptation. Wait, therefore, before you 



340 THE TEACHEK. 

make such changes, till you have ascertained actual character, 
doing this, however, without any unnecessary delay. 

In sucli removals, too, it is well, in many cases, to keep 
the motive and design of them as much as possible out of 
view; for by expressing suspicion of a boy, you injure his 
character in his own opinion and in that of others, and tend 
to make him reckless. Besides, if you remove a boy from a 
companion whom he likes, avowedly to prevent his playing, 
you offer him an inducement, if he is a bad boy, to continue 
to play in his new position for the purpose of thwarting you, 
or from the influence of resentment. It would be wrong, in- 
deed, to use any subterfuge or duplicity of any kind to con- 
ceal your object, but you are not bound to explain it ; and 
in the many changes which you will be compelled to make 
in the course of the first week for various purposes, you may 
include many of these without explaining particularly the 
design or intention of any of them. 

In some instances, however, you may frankly state the 
whole case without danger, provided it is done in such a 
manner as not to make the boy feel that his character is se- 
riously injured in your estimation. It must depend upon the 
tact and judgment of the teacher to determine upon the par- 
ticular course to be pursued in the several cases, though he 
ought to keep these general principles in view in all. 

In one instance, for example, he will see two boys together, 
James and Joseph we will call them, exhibiting a tendency 
to play, and after inquiring into their characters, he will find 
that they are good-natured, pleasant boys, and that he had 
better be frank with them on the subject. He calls one of 
them to his desk, and perhaps the following dialogue ensues: 

"James, I am making some changes in the seats, and 
thought of removing you to another place. Have you any 
particular preference for that seat V 

The question is unexpected, and James hesitates. He 
wishes to sit next to Joseph, but doubts whether it is quite 



THE teacher's FIRST DAY. 341 

prudent to avow it ; so lie says, slowly and vitli hesita- 
tion, 

" No, sir, I do not know that I have." 

"If you have any reason, I wish you would tell me frankly, 
for I want you to have such a seat as will be pleasant to you." 

James does not know what to say. Encouraged, however, 
by the good-humored tone and look which the master assumes, 
he says, timidly, 

" Joseph and I thought we should like to sit together, if 
you are willing." 

" Oh ! you and Joseph are particular friends, then, I sup- 
pose f 

" Why, yes, sir." 

" I am not surprised, then, that you want to sit together, 
though, to tell the truth, that is rather a reason why I should 
separate you." 

" Why, sir ?" 

" Because I have obser^^ed that when two great friends are 
seated together, they are always more apt to whisper and 
play. Have you not observed it?" 

" Why, yes, sir." 

" You may go and ask Joseph to come here." 

When the two boys make their appearance again, the 
teacher continues : 

"Joseph, James tells me that you and he would like to sit 
together, and says you are particular friends ; but I tell him," 
he adds, smiling, " that that is rather a reason for separating 
you. Now if I should put you both into different parts of 
the school, next to boys that you are not acquainted with, it 
would be a great deal easier for you to be still and studious 
than it is now. Do you not think so yourselves?" 

The boys look at one another and smile. 

" However, there is one way you can do. You can guard 
against the extra temptation by extra care ; and, on the whole, 
as I believe you are pretty good boys, I will let you have your 



342 THE TEACHER. 

choice. You may stay as you are, and make extra exertion 
to be perfectly regular and studious, or I will find seats for 
you where it will be a great deal easier for you to be so. 
Which do you think you should rather do f 

The boys hesitate, look at one another, and presently say 
that they had rather sit together. 

" Well," said the teacher, "it is immaterial to me whether 
you sit together or apart, if you are only good boys, so you 
may take your seats and try it a little while. If you find it 
too hard work to be studious and orderly together, I can 
make a change hereafter. I shall soon see." 

Such a conversation will have many good effects. It will 
make the boys expect to be watched, without causing them 
to feel that their characters have suffered. It will stimulate 
them to greater exertion to avoid all misconduct, and it will 
prepare the way for separating them afterward without awak- 
ening feelings of resentment, if the experiment of their sit- 
tinf]f too-ether should fail. 

Another case would be managed, perhaps, in a little dif- 
ferent way, where the tendency to play was more decided. 
After speaking to the individuals mildly two or three times, 
you see them again at play. You ask them to wait that day 
after school and come to your desk. 

They have, then, the rest of the day to think occasionally 
of the difficulty they have brought themselves into, and the 
anxiety and suspense which they will naturally feel will give 
you every advantage for speaking to them with effect ; and 
if you should be engaged a few minutes with some other busi- 
ness after school, so that they should have to stand a little 
while in silent expectation, waiting for their turn, it would 
contribute to the permanence of the effect. 

" Well, boys," at length you say, Avith a serious but frank 
tone of voice, " I saw you playing in a disorderly manner to- 
day, and, in the first place, I wish you to tell me honestly all 



THE teacher's FIRST DAY. 343 

about it. I am not going to punish you, but I wish you to 
be open and honest about it. What were you doing ?" 

The boys hesitate. * 

" George, what did you have in your hand ?" 

"' A piece of paper." 

" And what were you doing with it f 

George. WiUiam was trying to take it away from me. 

" Was there any thing on it f 

"Yes, sir." 

"What?" 

George looks down, a little confused. 

William. George had been drawing some pictures on it. 

"I see each of you is ready to tell of the other's fault, 
but it would be much more honorable if each was open in 
acknowledging his own. Have I ever had to speak to you 
before for playing together in school 1" 

"Yes, sir, I believe you have," says one, looking down. 

" More than once f 

" Yes, sir." 

"More than twice f 

" I do not recollect exactly ; I believe you have." 

" Well, now, what do you think I ought to do next ?" 

The boys have nothing to say. 

" Do you prefer sitting together, or are you willing to have 
me separate you ?" 

" We should rather sit together, sir, if you are willing," 
says George. 

"I have no objection to your sitting together, if you could 
only resist the temptation to play. I want all the boys in 
the school to have pleasant seats." 

There is a pause, the teacher hesitating what to do. 

" Suppose, now, I were to make one more experiment, and 
let you try to be good boys in your present seat, would you 
really try"?" 

" Yes, sir," " Yes, sir, we will," are the replies. 



544 THE TEACHER. 

" And if I should find that you still continue to play, and 
should have to separate you, will you move into your new 
seats pleasantly, and with good-humor, feeling that I have 
done right about if?" 

" Yes, sir, we will." 

Thus it will be seen that there may be cases where the 
teacher may make arrangements for separating his scholars, 
on an open and distinct understanding with them in respect 
to the cause of it. We have given these cases, not that ex- 
actly such ones will be very likely to occur, or that, when 
they do, the teacher is to manage them in exactly the Avay 
here described, but to exhibit more clearly to the reader than 
could be done by any general description, the spirit and tone 
which a teacher ought to assume toward his pupils. We 
wished to exhibit this in contrast with the harsh and impa- 
tient manner which teachers too often assume in such a case, 
as follows : 

"John Williams and Samuel Smith, come here to me !" ex- 
claims the master, in a harsh, impatient tone, in the midst 
of the exercises of the afternoon. 

The scholars all look up from their work. The culprits 
slowly rise from their seats, and with a sullen air come down 
to the floor. 

" You are playing, boys, all the time, and I will not have 
it. John, do you take your books, and go and sit out there 
by the window; and, Samuel, you come and sit here on this 
front seat ; and if I catch you playing again, I shall certainly 
punish you severely." 

The boys make the move with as much rattling and dis- 
turbance as is possible without furnishing proof of willful in- 
tention to make a noise ; and when they get their new seats, 
and the teacher is again engaged upon his work, they ex- 
change winks and nods, and in ten minutes are slyly cannon- 
ading each other with paper balls. 



THE teacher's FIRST DAY. 345 

In regard to all the directions that iiave been given under 
this head, I ought to say again, before concluding it, that they 
are mainly applicable to the case of beginners and of small 
schools. The general principles are, it is true, of universal 
application, but it is only where a school is of moderate size 
that the details of position, in respect to individual scholars, 
can be minutely studied. More summary processes are nec- 
essary, I am aware, when the school is very large, and the 
time of the teacher is incessantly engaged. 

8. In some districts in New England the young teacher 
will find one or more boys, generally among the larger ones, 
who will come to the school with the express determination 
to make a difficulty if they can. The best way is generally 
to face these individuals at once in the most direct and open 
manner, and, at the same time, with perfect good-humor and 
kindness of feeling and deportment toward them personally. 
An example or two will best illustrate what I mean. 

A teacher heard a rapping noise repeatedly one day, just 
after he had commenced his labors, under such circumstances 
as to lead him to suppose it was designed. He did not ap- 
pear to notice it, but remained after school until the schol- 
ars had all gone, and then made a thorough examination. 
He found, at length, a broken place in the plastering, where 
a lath was loose, and a string was tied to the end of it, and 
thence carried along the wall, under the benches, to the seat 
of a mischievous boy, and fastened to a nail. By pulling the 
string he could spring the lath, and then let it snap back to 
its place. He left every thing as it was, and the next day, 
while engaged in a lesson, he heard the noise again. 

He rose from his seat. 

The scholars all looked up from their books. 

" Did you hear that noise f said he. 

"Yes, sir." 

"Do you know what it isf 

"No, sir." 

P2 



346 THE TEACHER. 

" Very well ; I only wished to call your attention to it. I 
may perhaps speak of it again by-and-by." 

He then resumed his exercise as if nothing had happened. 
The guilty boy was agitated and confused, and was utterly at 
a loss to know what to do. What could the teacher mean ? 
Had he discovered the trick ? and, if so, Vvhat was he going 
to do? 

He grew more and more uneasy, and resolved that, at all 
events, it was best for him to retreat. Accordingly, at the 
next recess, as the teacher had anticipated, he went slyly to 
the lath, cut the string, then returned to his seat, and drew 
the line in, rolled it up, and put it in his pocket. The teacher, 
who was secretly watching him, observed the whole manoeuvre. 

At the close of the school, when the books were laid aside, 
and all was silence, he treated the affair thus : 

" Do you remember the noise to which I called your at- 
tention early this afternoon*?" 

"Yes, sir." 

"I will explain it to you now. One of the boys tied a 
string to a loose lath in the side of the room, and then, hay- 
ing the end of it at his seat, he was pulling it to make a noise 
to disturb us." 

The scholars all looked astonished, and then began to turn 
round toward one another to see who the offender could be. 
The culprit began to tremble. 

" He did it several times yesterday, and would have gone 
on doing it had I not spoken about it to-day. Do you think 
this was wrong or not ?" 

" Yes, sir ;" " Wrong ;" " Wrong," are the replies. 

" What harm does it do ?" 

" It interrupts the school." 

" Yes. Is there any other harm ?" 

The boys hesitate. 

" It gives me trouble and pain. Should you not suppose 
it would?" 



THE TEACHEK'S FIRST DAY. 347 

" Yes, sir." 

" Have I ever treated any boy or girl in this school unjust- 
ly or unkindly?' 

"No, sir;" "No, sir." 

" Then why should any boy or girl wish to give me trou- 
ble or pain ?" 

There was a pause. The guilty individual expected that 
the next thing would be to call him out for punishment. 

" Now what do you think I ought to do with such a boy*?" 

No answer. 

" Perhaps I ought to punish him, but I am very unwilling 
to do that. I concluded to tiy another plan — to treat him 
with kindness and forbearance. So I called your attention 
to it this afternoon, to let him know that I was observing it, 
and to give him an opportunity to remove the string. And 
he did. He went, in the recess, and cut off the string. I 
shall not tell you his name, for I do not wish to injure his 
character. All I want is to have him a good boy." 

A pause. 

" I think I shall try this plan, for he must have some feel- 
ings of honor and gratitude, and if he has, he certainly will 
not try to give me pain or trouble again after this. And now 
I shall say no more about it, nor think any more about it ; 
only, to prove that it is all as I say, if you look there under 
that window after school, you will see the lath with the end 
of the string round it, and, by pulling it, you can make it 
snap." 

Another case, a little more serious in its character, is the 
following : 

A teacher, having had some trouble with a rude and sav- 
age-looking boy, made some inquiry respecting him out of 
school, and incidentally learned that he had once or twice 
before openly rebelled against the authority of the school, 
and that he was now, in the recesses, actually preparing a 



548 THt TEACUEK. 

club, with which he was threatening to defend himself if the 
teacher should attempt to punish him. 

The next day, soon after the boys had gone out, he took 
his hat and followed them, and, turning round a corner of 
the school-house, found the boys standing around the young 
rebel, who was sitting upon a log, shaving the handle of the 
club smooth with his pocket-knife. He was startled at the 
unexpected appearance of the teacher, and the first impulse 
was to hide his club behind him ; but it was too late, and, 
supposing that the teacher was ignorant of his designs, he 
went on sullenly with his work, feeling, however, greatly em- 
barrassed. 

"Pleasant day, boys," said the teacher. "This is a fine 
sunny nook for you to talk in. 

" Seems to me, however, you ought to have a better seat 
than this old log," continued he, taking his seat at the same 
time by the side of the boy. 

"Not so bad a seat, however, after all. What are you 
making, Joseph?" 

Joseph mumbled out something inarticulate by way of re- 

"I have got a sharper knife," said he, drawing his pen- 
knife out of his pocket. And then, "Let me try it," he con- 
tinued, gently taking the club out of Joseph's hand. 

The boys looked surprised, some exchanged nods and winks, 
others turned away to conceal a laugh ; but the teacher en- 
gaged in conversation with them, and soon put them all at 
their ease except poor Joseph, who could not tell how this 
strange interview was likely to end. 

In the mean time, the teacher went on shaving the handle 
smooth and rounding the ends. "You want," said he, "a 
rasp or coarse file for the ends, and then you could finish it 
finely. But what are you making this formidable club forf 

Joseph was completely at a loss what to say. He began 
to show evident marks of embarrassment and confusion. 



THE teacher's first DAY, 349 

*' I know what it is for ; it is to defend yourself against 
me with. Is it not, boys'?" said he, appeaUng to the others. 

A faint " Yes, sir" or two was the reply. 

" Well, now, Joseph, it will be a gi'eat deal better for us 
both to be friends than to be enemies. You had better throw 
this club away, and save yourself from punishment by being 
a good boy. Come, now," said he, handing him back his 
club, " throw it over into the field as far as you can, and we 
will all forget that you ever made it." 

Joseph sat the picture of shame and confusion. Better 
feelings were struggling for admission, and the case was de- 
cided by a broad-faced, good-natured-looking boy, who stood 
by his side, saying almost involuntarily, 

" Better throw it, Joe." 

The club flew, end over end, into the field. Joseph re- 
turned to his allegiance, and never attempted to rise in rebell- 
ion again. 

The ways by which boys engage in open, intentional dis- 
obedience are, of course, greatly varied, and the exact treat- 
ment will depend upon the features of the individual case ; 
but the frankness, the openness, the plain dealing, and the 
kind and friendly tone which it is the object of the foregoing 
illustrations to exhibit, should characterize all. 

9. ^e have already alluded to the importance of a deli- 
cate regard for the characters of the boys in all the measures 
of discipline adopted at the commencement of a school. This 
is, in fact, of the highest importance at all times, and is pe- 
culiarly so at the outset. A wound to the feelings is some- 
times inflicted by a single transaction which produces a last- 
ing injury to the character. Children are very sensitive to 
ridicule or disgrace, and some are most acutely so. A cut- 
ting reproof administered in pubUc, or a punishment which 
exposes the individual to the gaze of others, will often burii 
far more deeply into the heart than the teacher imagines. 

And it is often the cause of great and lasting injury, too. 



350 THE TEACHER. 

By destroying the character of a pupil, you make him feel 
that he has nothing more to lose or gain, and destroy that 
kind of interest in his own moral condition which alone will 
allure him to virtuous conduct. To expose children to pub- 
lic ridicule or contempt tends either to make them sullen 
and despondent, or else to arouse their resentment and to 
make them reckless and desperate. Most persons remember 
through life some instances in their early childhood in which 
they were disgraced or ridiculed at school, and the perma- 
nence of the recollection is a test of the violence of the effect. 

Be very careful, then, to avoid, especially at the commence- 
ment of the school, publicly exposing those who do wrong. 
Sometimes you may make the offense public, as in the case 
of the snapping of the lath, described under a former head, 
while you kindly conceal the name of the offender. Even if 
the school generally understand who he is, the injury of pub- 
lic exposure is almost altogether avoided, for the sense of dis- 
grace does not come nearly so vividly home to the mind of a 
child from hearing occasional allusions to his offense by indi- 
viduals among his playmates, as when he feels himself, at a 
particular time, the object of universal attention and dishonor. 
And then, besides, if the pupil perceives that the teacher is 
tender of his reputation, he will, by a feeling somewhere be- 
tween imitation and sympathy, begin to feel a little tender of 
it too. Every exertion should be made, therefore, to lead 
children to value their character, and to help them to pre- 
serve it, and especially to avoid, at the beginning, every un- 
necessary sacrifice of it. 

And yet there are cases where shame is the very best pos- 
sible remedy for juvenile faults. If a boy, for example, is 
self-conceited, bold, and mischievous, with feelings somewhat 
callous, and an influence extensive and bad, an opportunity 
will sometimes occur to hold up his conduct to the just rep- 
robation of the school with great advantage. By this means, 
if it is done in such a way as to secure the influence of the 



THE teacher's FDJST DAY. 351 

school on the riglit side, many good effects are sometimes at- 
tained. His pride and self-conceit are humbled, his bad in- 
fluence receives a very decided check, and he is forced to 
draw back at once from the prominent stand he has occupied. 

Richard Jones, for example, is a rude, coarse, self-conceit- 
ed boy, often doing wrong both in school and out, and yet 
possessed of that peculiar influence which a bad boy often 
contrives to exert in school. The teacher, after watching 
some time for an opportunity to humble him, one day over- 
hears a difficulty among the boys, and, looking out of the win- 
dow, observes that he is taking away a sled from one of the 
little boys to slide down hill upon, having none of his own. 
The little boy resists as well as he can, and complains bitter- 
ly, but it is of no avail. 

At the close of the school that day, the teacher commences 
conversation on the subject as follows : 

" Boys, do you know what the difference is between steal- 
ing and robbery 1" 

" Yes, -sir." 

'•^Yhatr 

The boys hesitate, and look at one another. 

" Suppose a thief were to go into a man's store in the day- 
time, and take away something secretly, would it be stealing 
or robbery T' 

" Stealing." 

" Suppose he should meet him in the road, and take it 
away by force*?" 

" Then it would be robbery." 

"Yes; when that which belongs to another is taken se- 
cretly, it is called stealing ; wdien it is taken openly or with 
violence, it is called robbery. Which, now, do you think is 
the worst f 

" Robbery." 

"Yes, for it is more barefaced and determined — then it 
gives a great deal more pain to the one who is injured. To- 



352 THE TEACHER. 

day I saw one of the boys in this school taking away another 
boy's sled, openly and with violence." 

The boys all look round toward Richard. 

"Was that of the nature of stealing or robbery f 

" Robbery," say the boys. 

"Was it real robbery?" 

They hesitate. 

" If any of you think of any reason why it was not real 
robbery, you may name it." 

" He gave the sled back to him," says one of the boys. 

" Yes ; and therefore, to describe the action correctly, we 
should not say Richard robbed a boy of his sled, but that he 
robbed him of his sled/o?' a iime, or he robbed liim of the use 
of his sled. Still, in respect to the nature and the guilt of it, 
it was robbery. 

" There is another thing which ought to be observed about 
it. Whose sled was it that Richard took away V ^ 

" James Thompson's." 

" James, you may stand up. 

" Notice his size, boys. I should like to have Richard 
Jones stand up too, so that you might compare them ; but I 
presume he feels very much ashamed of what he has done, 
and it would be very unpleasant for him to stand up. You 
will remember, however, how large he is. Now when I was 
a boy, it used to be considered dishonorable and cowardly for 
a large, strong boy to abuse a little one who can not defend 
himself. Is it considered so now V 

" Yes, sir." 

" It ought to be, certainly ; though, were it not for such a 
case as this, we should not have thought of considering Rich- 
ard Jones a coward. It seems he did not dare to try to take 
away a sled from a boy who was as big as himself, but at- 
tacked little James, for he knew he was not strong enough to 
defend himself." 



TUE teacher's IIRST DA X'. 3o3 

Now, in some such cases as this, great good may be done, 
both in respect to the individual and to the state of pubhc 
sentiment in school, by openly exposing a boy's misconduct. 
The teacher must always take care, however, that the state 
of mind and character in the guilty individual is such that 
public exposure is adapted to work well as a remedy, and 
also that, in managing it, he carries the sympathies of the 
other boys with him. To secure this, he must avoid all 
harsh and exaggerated expressions or direct reproaches, and 
while he is mild, and gentle, and forbearing himself, lead the 
boys to understand and feel the nature of the sin which he 
exposes. The opportunities for doing this to advantage will, 
however, be rare. Generally it will be best to manage cases 
of discipline more privately, so as to protect the characters 
of those that offend. 

The teacher should thus, in accordance with the directions 
we have given, commence his labors with careful circumspec- 
tion, patience, frankness, and honest good-will toward every 
individual of his charge. He will find less difficulty at the 
outset than he would have expected, and soon have the sat- 
isfaction of perceiving that a mild but most efficient govern- 
ment is quietly and firmly established in the little kingdom 
over which he is called to reiim. 



THE END. 



INSTRUCTION AND ENTERTAINMENT 
FOR THE YOUNG. 



Books Adapted to Family^ School^ Town^ District^ 
arid Sunday-School Libraries. 

By Jacob and John S. C. Abbott. 



Abbotts' Illustrated Histories, 

A Series of Volumes by Jacob and John S. C. Abbott, contaiuing 
severall}' full accounts of the lives, characters, and exploits of 
the most distinu:uished Sovereigns, Potentates, and Rulers that 
have been chiefly renowned among mankind, in the various ages 
of the world, from the earliest periods to the present day. 

The Volumes of this Series are printed and bound uniformly, 
and are adorned with richly illuminated Title-pages and numer- 
ous Engravings. 16mo, Muslin, 6U cents per Volume; Muslin, 
gilt edges, '75 cents per Volume; Library" Sheep, 75 cents per 
Volume. The Volumes may be obtained separately. 
Cyrus the Great. Alfred the Great. 

Darius the Great. "William the Conqueror. 

Xerxes. Mar}- Queen of Scots. 

Alexander the Great. Queen Elizabeth. 

Romulus. Charles I. 

Hannibal. Charles II. 

Pyrrhus. Josephine. 

Julius Cffisar. Maria Antoinette. 

Cleopatra. Madame Roland. 

Nero. Hernando Cortez. 

The narratives are succint and comprehensive, and are strictly faithful to the 
truth, so far as it can now be ascertained. Tliey are written in a very plain and 
simple style, but are noi juvenile in their character, nor intended exclusively for 
the young. The volumes are sufficiently large to allow each history to comprise 
all the leading facts in the lite of the personage wlio is the subject of it, and thus 
to communicate all the informa'tion in respect to him which is necessary for the 
purposes ot the general reader. 

The several volumes of the series follow each other, in the main, in regular 
historical or.ler, and each one continues the general narrative of history down to 
the per od at which the next volume takes up the story ; so that the whole series 
will, when completed, present to the reader a connected line of general history 
from the present a^e back to the remotest times. Thus the whole series consti- 
tutes a very complete and valuable treasury of historical knowledge, while yet 
each volume, consi-sting as it does of a single distinct and entertaining narrative, 
has all the interest, lor the reader, of a tale. 

Such being the design and character of the worlds, they would seem to be spe- 
cially aJapted, no tonly for family reading, but also for district, town, school, and 
Sunday-sjhool Libraries, as well as for text-books in literary seminaries. 

The volumes already issned have had a wide circulation in all parts of the 
country — more than two hundred thousand volumes having been already sold. 
The plan of the series, and the manner in which the design has been carried out 
by the authors in the execution of it. have been highly commended by the press 
in all parts of the country, and many individual parents have spoken of the books 
as exerting a very powerful influence in awaken ng a taste for instructive read- 
ing ainons their children, and a love for the acquisition of useful knowledsre. 

The whole series has been introduced into the school libraries of several of the 
largest and most influential states. 

They have, moreover, been republished in England in many different forms, and 
have had a wide circulation in that country. 



ii INSTF.UCTK»N AN1> ENTKRTAINMENT FOR TUE VOUNG. 

The Little Learner, by Jacob Abbott. 

The " Little Learner" is a series ol juvenile books adapted o the earliest age, 
and designed to assist in the very first development of the mind of a child while un- 
der its mother's special care The series is comprised in Five Volumes, and is in- 
tended to constitute a complete manual of instruction for the child during the five 
or six first years of life. 

LEARNING TO TALK ; or, Entertaining and Instructive Lessons in the use 
of Language. Illustrated with 170 Engravings. Small 4to, xMuslm, 50 cents. 
This volume is designed to assist the child in its first attempt to acquire the 
use of language. It consists of a great number of beautiful engravings, with sim- 
ple explanations to be read to the child by a parent, or older brother or sister, 
with many explanations of words and lessons in pronunciation interposed. 

LEAUNING TO THINK. Consisting of Easy and Entertaining Lessons, de- 
signed to assist in the first unfolding of the Reflective and Reasoning Powers 
of children. Illustrated with 120 Engravings. Small 4to, Muslin, 50 cents. 
Designed to call out and cultivate the reflective and reasoning powers of th9 
child, and to exercise and develop the imagination. It contains a great number 
of beautiful engravings, accompanied by explanations and remarks, and with a 
great number and variety of questions to be read by the parent or teacher, and 
answered by the child. 

LEARNING TO READ. Consisting of Easy and Entertaining Lessons, de- 
signed to assist young Children in studying the Forms of the Letters, and in 
beginning to Read. Illustrated with 160 Engravings. Small 4to. Muslin, 50 
cents. 

This volume is intended to amuse and interest the child in the work of learn- 
ing the forms of the letters, and in beginning to read. Like all the other volumes 
of the series, it is profusely illustrated wih beautiful engravings. 

LEARNING ABOUT COMMON THINGS; or. Familiar Instructions for Chil- 
dren in respect to the Objects around them, that attract their Attention, and 
awaken their Curiosity, in the earliest Years of Life. Illustrated with 120 En- 
gravings. Small 4to, Muslin, 50 cents. (Shorthj.) 

The object of this volume is to communicate useful elementary instruction to 
the child, in respect to the various objects that come within his observation, and 
attract his attention in the earliest years of his life. It aims to give a right di- 
rection to his thoughts on these subjects, and to accustom him to correct and 
careful habits, both of observation and reflection in respect to them, and to a cor- 
rect and discriminating use of language in describing what he sees. 

LEARNING ABOUT RIGHT AND WRONG. {Nearly ready.) 

This volume explains those simple and universally admitted principles of moral 
and reli-ious duty which are applicable to the conduct and character in the earli- 
est years of life. Its aim is to assist in the development of the dawning con- 
science of the little learner, and cultivate and enlighten his moral sense. The 
principles are all presented in a very practical form, and are illustrated with a 
great variety of examples made real and vivid to the child by means of the engrav- 
ings. 

Abbott's Kings and Queens. 

Kings and Queens; or, Life in the Palace, Consisting of Histor- 
ical Sketches of Josepliine and Maria Louisa, Loui^ Philippe, 
Ferdinand of Austria, Nicholas, Isabella IT., Leopold, Victoria, 
and Louis Napoleon, By John S. C. Abbott. With numerous 
Illustrations. 12mo, Muslin, $1 00; Muslin, gilt edges, $1 25. 

Abbott's Summer in Scotland. 

A Summer in Scotland. By Jacob Abbott. "With Engravings. 

12mo, Muslin, %\ 00. 

A pleasant and agreeable record of observations made during a summer's resi- 
dence and travelinp in the land of Bruce and Wallace 



INSTKUCTION AND ENTEUTAINMENT FOR THE YOUNG. o 

Harper's Story Books. 

A iionthly Series of Narratives, Biographies, and Tales for the 

Instruction and Entertainment of the Young. By Jacob Abbott. 

Embellished with numerous and beautiful Engravings. 

These books are published in monthly Numbers of 160 pages, 

small quarto. They are very beautifully illustrated, and are 

printed on fine calendered paper. 

The Series may be obtained of Booksellers, Periodical Agents, 

and Postmasters, or from the Publishers, at Three Dollars a Year, 

or Twenty-tive Cents a Number. Subscriptions may commence 

with any Number. The Postage upon "Harper's Storj' Books," 

which must be paid Quarterly, in advance, is Two Cents. 

The several Numbers are also bound separately in Muslin, and 

are to be procured in this form at any Booksellers, at Forty Cents 

per Volume. 

The Numbers are also bound in Quarterly YoLr:MES, Three 

Numbers in a Volume, and are sold at 1^1 00 per Volume. 

The two Periodicals, "Harpers New Monthly Magazine" and 

" Harper's Story Books," will be supplied to Subscribers at Five 

Dollars a Year, and will be published on the first day of each 

Month. 

The successive numbers of the Story Books present a great variety of subjects 
and of styles of composition, including narratives, dialogues, descriptive essays, 
histories, and entertaining stories of a character to interest and please thi; youth- 
ful mind, and at the same time to impart information tliat will be useful in sub- 
sequent life. Thus they combine the presentation of important and interesting 
facts with the inculcation of sound principles in taste, morals, and religion, and 
thus form a welcome and efficient aid in the work of home education. Though 
not i'^tended to be of exclusively religious character, they are so far designed to 
exert a moral and religious inliuence on the minds of the readers as to lead to 
their introduction in many instances to Sahbalh School Libraries. 

Tiie illustrations of the successive numbers are very numerous, and are exe- 
cuted in the highest stj le of modern xylography. 

The following volumes are now ready: 

Vol. I. BRUNO ; or, Lessons of Fidelity, Patience, and Self-denial taught by 
a Dog. 
WILLIE AND THE MORTGAGE. Showing how much may be ac- 
complished by a boy. 
THE STRAIT GATE ; or, The Rule of Exclusion from Heaven. 

Vol. IL TPIE LITTLE LOUVRE ; or. The Boys and Girls' Picture Gallery. 
PRANK ; or. The Philosophy of Tricks and Mischief. 
EMMA ; or The Three Mislbrtunes of a Belle. 

Vol. hi. VIRGINIA ; or, A Little Light on a Very Dark Saying. 
TIMBOO AND JOLIBA ; or, The Art of being Useful. 
TIMBOO AND FANNY ; or. The Art of Self-instruction. 

Vol. IV. THE HARPER ESTABLISHMENT ; or. How the Story Books are 
Made. 
FRANKLIN, the Apprentice Boy. 

THE STUDIO; or. Illustrations of the Theory and Practice of Draw- 
ing, for Young Artists st Home. 
Vol. V. THE STORY" OF ANCIENT HISTORY, from the earliest Periods 
to the Fall of the Roman Empire. 
THE STORY OF ENGLISH HISTORY", from the earliest Periods to 

the American Revolution. 
THE STORY OF AMERICAN HISTORY, from the earliest Settle- 
ment of the Country to the Establishment of the Federal Constitution 

Vol. VI. .TOHN TRUE ; or, The Christian Experience of an Honest Boy. 
ELFRED ; or, the Blind Boy and his Pictures! 
THE MUSEUM , or, Curiosities Explained, 



4 INSTRUCTION AND ENTERTAINMENT FOR THE YOUNG. 

Abbott's Fraiicoiiia Stories. 

Franeonia Stoiies. By Jacob Akbott. Beautifully bound, en- 
graved Title-pages, and numerous Illustrations. Complete in 10 
vols. IGmo, Muslin, 50 cents each. The Volumes may be ob- 
tained separately. 

Malleville. Wallace, Maiy Ersliine. 

Mary Bell. Beechnut. Rodolphus. 

Ellen Linn. Stuyvesant. Caroline. 

Agnes. 
This charming series of connected stories is complete in ten volumes. Each 
volume is an entirely distinct and independent work, having no necessary con- 
nection of incidents w,th those that precede or follow it, while yet the characters 
of the scenes in which the stories are laid are substantially the same in all. 
Tliey present peaceful pictures of happy domestic life, and are intended not chief- 
ly to amuse and entertain the children who shall peruse them, but to furnish them 
with attractive lessons of moral and intellectual instruction, and to train their 
hearts to habits of ready and cheerful subordination to duty and law. 

The most attractive tales for children which have been issued from the press 
for years. — Cincinnati Gazette. 

Abbott's Marco Paul Series. 

Marco Paul's Voyages and Travels in the Pursuit of Knowledge. 

By Jacob Abbott. Beautifully Illustrated. Complete in 6 vols. 

16mo, Muslin, 60 cents each. The Voluines may be obtained 

separately. 

In New York. In A^ermont. 

On the Erie Canal. In Boston. 

In the Forests of ilaine. At the Springfield Armory. 

The design of these volumes is not simply to present a narrative of juvenile ad- 
ventures, but also to communicate, in connection with them, a knowledge of the 
geography, scenery, and customs of the sections of country over which the young 
traveler is conducted. Marco Paul makes his journeyings under the guidance of 
a well-informed tutor, who takes care to give him all the information of which 
he stands in need. The narrative is rendered stiU further attractive by the in- 
troduction of personal incidents which would naturally befall the actors of the 
story. No American child can read this series without delight and instruct-on. 
But it will not be confined to the juvenile library. Presenting a vivid comment- 
ary on American society, manners, scenery, and institutions, it has a powerful 
charm for readers of all ages. 

Abbott's Young Christian Scries. 

The Young Christian Series. By Jacob Abbott. Very greatly 
Improved and Enlarged. With ntimerous Engravings. Com- 
plete in 4 vols. 12mo, Muslin, $1 00 each. The Volumes ma}^ be 
obtained separately. 

The Young Christian. The Way to do Good. 

The Corner Stone. Iloaryhead and M'Donner. 

The present edition of Abbott's Young Christian Series is issued in a style of 
uncommon neatness, and is illustrated with numerous spirited and beautiful en- 
gravings. It is superfluous to speak of the rare merits of Abbott's writings on the 
subject of practical religion. Their extensive circulation, not only in our own 
country, but in England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Holland, India, and 
at various missionary stations throughout the globe, evinces the excellence of 
their plan, and the felicity with which it has been executed. In unfolding the dif- 
ferent topics which he takes in hand, Mr. Abbott reasons clearly, conci.sely, and 
to the point ; but the severity of the argument is always relieved by a singular 
variety and beauty of illustration. It is this admirable combination of discussion 
with incident that invests his writings with an almost equal charm for readers 
of every diversity of age and culture. 



INSTRUCTION AND ENTERTAINMENT FOR THE YOUNG. O 

Abbott's Napoleon Bonaparte. 

The HistoiT of Napoleon Bonaparte. By John S. C. Abbott- 
With Maps, AYood-cuts, and Portraits on Steel. 2 vols. 8vo, 
Muslin, $5 ; Sheep, $5 1o; Half Calf, $G ; Full Morocco, 810. 
This work, which attracted so much attention while making its monthly ap- 
pearance in Harper's Magazine, is now published, in two royal octavo volumes 
of a little more than 600 pages each. The volumes are elegantly printed, neatly 
bound, and contain two hundred and fifty-one exceedingly interesting wood-ruts. 
More than thirty maps, constructed expressly for the purpose, enable the reader 
accurately to trace the movements of the Emperor through all his wonderful ca- 
reer. A steel engraving, as exquisitely cut as any thing of the kind which has 
ever been executed in this country, embellishes each of the volumes. One repre- 
sents Napoleon a young man, when in command of the army of Italy. The other 
represents the Emperor when in the maturity of his years. The accuracy of the 
likenesses may be relied upon. When we consider the intrinsic interest of the 
history, the richness and beauty of the illustrations, and the typographical ele- 
gance of the work, it is not too much to say, that two more attractive volumes 
have never been issued from the American press. 

.Mr. Abbott has devoted four years of incessant labor to this work, investigating 
all the authorities of value in this country and in Europe. He has been enabled 
to avail himself of the criticisms which the work has elicited. The authorities 
are given in reference to every statement which an intelligent man might question. 
The work has been very carefully revised, considerably enlarged by the introduc- 
tion of authorities, and is now presented to the American public as a truthful rec- 
ord of the career of Napoleon. 

Abbott's Napoleon at St. Helena ; 

Or, Interesting Anecdotes and Remarkable Conversations of the 
Emperor during the Five and a Half Years of his Captivity. 
Collected from the Memorials of Las Casas, O'Meara, Montholon, 
Antommarchi, and others. B}' John S. C. x\bbott. With Illus- 
trations. 8vo, Muslin, .$2 50 ; Half Calf. 83 00. 
" The author of this volume performs mainly but the unambitious task of com- 
pilation. He desires to take the reader to St. Helena, and to introduce him to the 
humble apartment of the Emperor. He would give him a seat in the arm-chair, 
by the side of the illu.strious sufferer reclining upon the sofa, or to lead him to ac- 
company the Emperor in his walk among the blackened rocks, and thus to listen 
to the g'lowing utterances of the imperial sage. The literature of our language 
affords no richer intellectual treat than the conversations of Napoleon. Hitherto 
widely scattered in many volumes, and buried in the mi.st of a multiplicity of de- 
tails of but transient interest, they have been inaccessible to the mass of readers. 
By presentin^^ them in one volume, they are within the reach of all who can ap- 
preciate the eloquence of words and of thought." 

Abbott's Child at Home. 

The Child at Home ; or, The Principles of Filial Duty familiarly 
Illustrated. By John S. C. Abbott, Author of "The Mother at 
Home." Beautifully embellished with Wood-cuts. 16mo, Mus- 
lin, 60 cents. 

Abbott's Mother at Home. 

Tlie Mother at Home ; or. The Principles of Maternal Duty fa- 
miliary Illustrated. By John S. C. Abbott. With numerous En- 
gravings. 16mo, Muslin, 60 cents. 

The Teacher. 

]Moral Influences Employed in the Instmction and Government 
of the Young. A IS'ew and Uevised Edition. By Jacob Abbott. 
With Engravings. 12mo, Musli" «! 00 



LOSSING'S PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK 

Of the Revolution ; or, Illustrations, b}^ Pen and Pencil, of the His- 

tor}', Biography, Scenery, Kelics, and Traditions of the War 

for Independence. 2 vols. Royal 8vo, Muslin, $8 00; Sheep, 

$9 00; Half Calf, 810 00; Full Morocco, $15 00. 

A new and carefully revised edition of this magnificent work is just completed 

in two imperial octavo volumes of equal size, containing 1500 pages and llOO-cn- 

gravings. As the plan, scope, and beauty of the work were originally developed, 

eminent literary men, and the leading presses of the United States and Great 

Britain, pronounced it one of the most valuable historical productions ever issued. 

The preparation of this work occupied the author more than four years, during 
which he traveled nearly ten thousand miles in order to visit the prominent scenes 
of revolutionary history, gather up local traditions, and explore records and his- 
tories. In the use of his pencil he was governed by the determination to withhold 
nothing of importance or interest. Being himself both artist and writer, he has 
been able to combine the materials he had collected in both departments into a 
work possessing perfect unity of purpose and execution. 

The object of the author in arranging his plan was to reproduce the history of 
the American Revolution in such an attractive manner, as to entice the youth of 
his country to read the wonderful story, study its philosophy and teachings, and 
to become familiar with the founders of our Republic and the value of their labors. 
In this he has been eminently successful ; for the young read the pages of the 
** Field- Book" with the same avidity as those of a romance ; while the abundant 
stores of information, and the careful manner in which it has been arranged and 
set forth, render it no less attractive to the general reader and the ripe scholar of 
more mature years. 

Explanatory notes are profusely given upon every page in the volume, and also 
a brief biographical sketch of every man distinguished in the events of the Revo, 
iution, the history of whose life is known. 

A .Supplement of forty pages contains a history of the Naval Operations of the 
Revolution ; of the Diplomacy ; of the Confederation and Federal Constitution ; 
the Prisons and Prison Ships of New York; Lives of the Signers of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, and other matters of curious interest to the historical student. 

A new and very elaborate analytical index has been prepared, to which we call 
special attention. It embraces eighty-five closely printed pages, and possesses 
rare value for every student of our revolutionary history. It is in itself a com- 
plete synopsis of the history and biography of that period, and will be found ex- 
ceedingly useful for reference by every reader. 

As a whole, the work contains all the essential facts of the early history of our 
Republic, which are scattered through scores of volumes often inaccessible to the 
great mass of readers. The illustrations make the whole subject of the American 
Revolution so clear to the reader that, on rising from its perusal, he feels thorough- 
ly acquainted, not only with the history, but with every important locality made 
memorable by the events of the war for Independence, and it forms a comple'e 
Guide-Book to the tourist seeking for fields consecrated by patriotism, which lie 
scattered over our broad land. Nothing has been spared to make it complete, re- 
liable, and eminently useful to all classes of citizens. Upward of THIRTY-FIVE 
THOUSAND DOLLARS were expended in the publication of the first edition. 
The exquisite wood-cuts, engraved under the immediate supervision of the author, 
from his own drawings, in the h'ghest style of the art, required the greatest care 
in printing. To this end the efforts of the publ shers have been directed, and we 
take great pleasure in presenting these volumes as the best specimen of typogra- 
phy ever issued from the American press. 

The publication of the work having been commenced in numbers before its 
preparation was completed, the volumes of the first edition were made quite up 
equal in size. That defect has been remedied, and the work is now presented in 
f-^-o vn!\ime« r.'f equal s I?, crnraining nbcut TfO pagss earh 



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